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Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

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Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

credit card itself can’t be used to ad targeting. But plenty of proxies make this point largely irrelevant.

> credit card itself can’t be used to ad targeting Incorrect. Credit card networks / issuers explicitly describe using payment, spending, and your personal data, for marketing, personalization, audience segmentation, and advertising. Mastercard’s privacy notice states that it may use personal and transaction-related information to: “Provide you with personalized services and recommendations” “Offer and support loyalt…

If only I could get rich, structured data access to my spending data... but many banks only allow pdf statement downloads, in inconvenient ways, and their UIs for drilling down into data...

Where can I buy my own data from the brokers?

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#492
post #468
post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In fact, the richer you are, the more questions I have about how you got it and who got shafted along the way. What a sad way to live life. Not only because it's untrue (assuming you don't live in North Korea), but it's incredibly dark and destructive.

This does not answer the question that was asked (and which I also wonder): why would you want to signal that you are rich?

For attracting members of the opposite sex and wanting to connect with other people of similar wealth as their values and interests more closely correspond with your own. I don't know if you noticed, but there are cultural differences across socio-economic classes.

Are you pretending not to understand?

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#493
post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In fact, the richer you are, the more questions I have about how you got it and who got shafted along the way. What a sad way to live life. Not only because it's untrue (assuming you don't live in North Korea), but it's incredibly dark and destructive.

The fact that you think it's "sad" is a dead giveaway in terms of what you value in life and what you consider a virtue.

What do I value? I believe I live in a society where wealth is earned through hard work. It would be awful living in a society where I wrongly think everyone who has something I don't earned it through nefarious means, and there is no way to be an honest broker and create wealth.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#494
post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, you must be one of those that cuts his own hair, shops strictly at thrift shops and wears bags as shoes.

I get my hair cut at a place where it costs $45 and I get a haircut every 1-2 months at best. I wear my shoes until they break. I wear Vans Sk8 old skool high tops most of the time. I am also on track to retire by 40 if all goes well. (Which is to say I don’t have THAT much money)

Ah, so you generally think about how other people perceive if you have money or not. Enough to answer an internet stranger inquiring about your wealth, and flexing about retiring at 40 (congrats).

Thanks for proving my point.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#495
post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All it would take is WhatsApp going paid plans only. All of Europe will switch to Telegram as primary messaging platform in a couple of days. Hence a paid only WhatsApp will never happen until every plausible alternative will be made impossible either by acquisition or by law.

> All of Europe will switch to Telegram as primary messaging platform in a couple of days. I don't think you realize how much Telegram is associated with hated Russia and the local far-right in several European countries.

Whatever it is, it's the most known WhatsApp alternative in this part of the world and if WhatsApp will start asking again only 1 Euro (about 15 years ago) and enforce it this time, my bet is that people will switch to Telegram en masse.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#496
post #467

It's very difficult to do business in Western Europe without Whatsapp. I have probably asked more than 60 people to switch to Signal and the social burden it introduces (i.e. asking a new acquaintance to install a new app) can have negative signalling effects (e.g. you don't adapt, create more work, why do you care so much about privacy, etc.) I personally abhore Facebook (and IG,Whatsapp) and don't want to use any o…

In Central Europe (Poland), too. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, realizes that using Whatsapp by default (which everyone accepts) synchronizes their entire contacts list to Meta. It's a golden trove of valuable data for an ad targeting company. People don't realize that there is so much that can be inferred about you from your contacts. Whether you have kids, which schools they go to, and similar personal information.…

I've seen more interest in Telegram among my contacts in recent years and less of it in Signal. I managed to grab my partner, sister and my friend to use Signal but they all three still use facebook along with whatsapp and doesn't seem they want to leave it.

The recent yet another revival of Gadu Gadu pass by without much fanfare. For those unfamiliar: GG was created by single guy upon ICQ idea of UIN's and quickly become the default messenger in Poland some 20 years ago - even gov't used it at some point. But it lost its position to Skype, Whatsapp and Viber. I admire somewhat the dedication this new company has in restoring our "homemade" network. But it's way too late: new generation of people who's mainly familiar with big corporations services have grown up and GG has nothing that'd made it replace these.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#497
post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> want to check if the small neighborhood grocery has something in stock? No phone, only Instagram DMs. You can use a throwaway account for that or other things such as FB Marketplace. It's not ideal because it generates traffic on FB, but it's better than handing over all your private communications to Zuckerberg.

Yeh but you can’t because they need phone validation, no?

Back when I last used FB you could create an account tied to an email address. I don't know if things have changed since, but throwaway phone numbers are also a thing.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#498
post #6

Discord subscriptions seem to be working. People like to customize their profile (ie express themselves), even though profiles are not something frequently interacted with (that's the surprising part!) I have a server (for my game) with about 1000 people. Out of the 300 people logged in, 50 of them have custom profiles. So, it seems like a good idea for Meta.

> Out of the 300 people logged in, 50 of them have custom profiles.

That's why I'd count Discord subs as a specific case targeting specific kind of a terminally online user who doesn't mind paying for such customization to show own digital identity, that for the rest means nothing. Discord had a brilliant idea here while at the same time allows to use their service without all these bells and whistles. Tho, I expect they'll start limiting it for those who refuse to subscribe in the nearest future.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pay YouTube Premium and get no ads there. It's totally worth it for me. I get that they aren't performing less tracking on me, and they've labeled me as "will pay subscriptions for stuff". But I get so much out of YouTube that's it's a no-brainer.

You can accomplish "no ads" and arguably substantially less tracking without Premium, though, with (e.g.) firefox and ublock origin. The only downside is an occasional ignorable warning that you're "seeing interruptions".

Not when watching on an Apple TV.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#500
post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Time to suggest them to join Mastodon and Pixelfed Sure. Guess how many of them will actually do it? > Relying on a foreign, for-profit megacorp is a bad way to keep contact with friends. I'd say it's exactly the opposite: relying on a foreign, for-profit megacorp is currently the best way to keep contact with friends. Unfortunately.

> Guess how many of them will actually do it? That's how much they value your friendship then :)

But you all already have Instagram. If someone wants everyone else to sacrifice to suit them, that sounds like a selfish person and a selfish friend.
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