What can you use instead of Google and Facebook? • Hacker News Board

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#271

Post by qznc » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 11:25 PM UTC

quindecagon wrote: post #200

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm consistently surprised that this comment comes up here so often. I've tried DDG at length, many times, and I always go back to Google because I find it SO much better for programming-related questions. Maybe the denizens of HN are accustomed to using SO's built-in search? But that's still only a piece of the larger puzzle. I get a lot of mileage from blog posts as well.

I find a big reason to use DDG is because it has "!bangs" that allow you to redirect your search to other site's native search engines by appending/prepending them to your query. I can use "!pac" to search for Arch Linux packages, "!aw" to search the Arch Wiki, "!gh" to search Github, etc. So the quality of DDG's search may be lacking but I generally know the site I want to search and can use their native searches. A…

Firefox has it built in, no redirect necessary, and you don't even need the bang: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-search-from-address...

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#272

Post by glaslong » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 11:49 PM UTC

jumpman500 wrote: post #256

skyyler wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Facebook: Does this even need a replacement? Do you go to parties? Serious question. It's hard to discover events without Facebook these days. It's the only place some promoters advertise.

I mean all my friends contact me when they're having a party or an event... Don't most people just do group messages? I've never really been interested in going to a random party or event I wasn't directly invited to. I mostly got spam when I was using Facebook.

What do they use for group messages? WhatsApp? Messenger?

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#273

Post by senthil_rajasek » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 11:53 PM UTC

newscracker wrote: post #251

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can absolutely tell google not to store your information. When you buy a shoe with your credit card at a store you are giving your personal information, isn't clicking on an ad similar?

> You can absolutely tell google not to store your information ...except for all the times when Google did collect and store your information despite you telling it not to (look online for location tracking on Android).

This article was about search . I am referring to Google search engine. People have diluted the argument by introducing Android. Google search and Facebook should not be in the same equation.

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#274

Post by SubuSS » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 11:55 PM UTC

kerkeslager wrote: post #222

Search: DDG is the obvious answer. But also reducing usage of general search is a major life improvement. Wikipedia and Stack Overflow have reasonable built-in searches, as do most sites I view as reasonable sources of information. Most discoverability comes from feeds (blogs, HN, Reddit)--searching limits you to terms you've already thought of. General search seems to lead either to the places already mentioned in g…

Facebook without probably putting in a ton of effort cornered the ad hoc grouping market. I can talk to my family/friends whenever yes, but almost all my cycling groups lean on fb for example - it is the lowest common denominator.

This too in a world where many teams have their own websites, boards and the participants almost uniformly posting their rides to strava. Strava has been trying its clubs / posts stuff with very minimal success sadly :/

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#275

Post by senthil_rajasek » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 11:56 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #186

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can absolutely tell google not to store your information. When you buy a shoe with your credit card at a store you are giving your personal information, isn't clicking on an ad similar?

Yes, I would also be ticked off if the shoe store sold off my personal info, or really used it for any reason other than selling me shoes.

You can remain anonymous with Google.

With Facebook you just cannot be an anonymous user.

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#276

Post by kingosticks » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 11:58 PM UTC

newscracker wrote: post #233

anderspitman wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Register a domain if you don't already have one and get Fastmail for 5 USD/mo (includes a calendar as well). If Gmail.com is your online identity hub, then you're not in control of your online identity.

Or spend lesser money for email/calendar with cheaper services that have strong statements about privacy, such as mailbox.org, mailfence.com, runbox.com, migadu.com (these are also services outside the Five Eyes countries, if that matters). Fastmail may be cheap enough for one mailbox for one person. But when you need multiple mailboxes (not aliases), the services mentioned above come out significantly cheaper.

Do the last two offer a calendar? I couldn't see it. Fastmail is a good first step away from Google for most people, similar fetaure set, good interface and support which caters for all abilities. I don't think you can say the same about any of those others (unless you read German).

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#277

Post by paulhodge » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 12:01 AM UTC

It's pretty hard to 100% replace Facebook, but a more feasible strategy is a gradual/piecewise approach. Opt for non-Facebook alternatives for certain tasks when you can. Like if you're going to share a photo album with family, you could always email them a link to Flickr/Dropbox/etc instead. Anything that reduces Facebook usage is good.

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#278

Post by ken » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 12:13 AM UTC

kerkeslager wrote: post #222

Search: DDG is the obvious answer. But also reducing usage of general search is a major life improvement. Wikipedia and Stack Overflow have reasonable built-in searches, as do most sites I view as reasonable sources of information. Most discoverability comes from feeds (blogs, HN, Reddit)--searching limits you to terms you've already thought of. General search seems to lead either to the places already mentioned in g…

> Facebook: Does this even need a replacement?

Not all of us use it for reading the 'timeline' and seeing what our friends' cats are doing this week. Organizations also use it for updates, scheduling, sharing ideas, etc. Email could work, but mailing lists lack many little features that make Facebook practical here.

I guess the modern alternative would be something like Discourse, but it's hard to tell a non-profit to replace "free, and add people with a couple clicks" with "$100/month, and make everybody create new separate accounts".

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#279

Post by skyyler » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 12:25 AM UTC

glaslong wrote: post #272

jumpman500 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean all my friends contact me when they're having a party or an event... Don't most people just do group messages? I've never really been interested in going to a random party or event I wasn't directly invited to. I mostly got spam when I was using Facebook.

What do they use for group messages? WhatsApp? Messenger?

My friends use Telegram.

Re: What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?

#280

Post by danfang » Sat, Jan 25, 2020, 12:33 AM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #258

danfang wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The project I'm currently working on - Thread ( https://get.thread-app.com ) has first class support for events and RSVPs. Let me know what you think!

Nice - I’ll check it out, I agree with the goals. Can you invite people to events that don't have an account via SMS and have it handled that way or do they need an account and the app? I think being able to support people not on the app is the big thing I want (then the network may grow or not overtime, but at least it's immediately useful even without other people on it). One other suggestion would be a default ret…

Yes, you do need an account and the app.

Signup for the app is as simple as possible, just a phone number (to reset your account), name, and password is required.

The reason an account is required is Thread does a lot more than just event planning - it includes messaging, photo sharing, location sharing, and more.