There’s another big story in The New York Times today about Facebook sharing personal data. You may also have heard that Walt Mossberg has stopped using Facebook and Instagram:
This is just a note to say I’ve decided to deactivate my Facebook and Facebook Messenger accounts around the end of the year. After that, I won’t be posting here, or reading what you post. I will be deleting the apps from my devices. I’ve already quit Facebook-owned Instagram and erased its app.
This is important. Many people have left Facebook but ignored that Instagram is owned by the same company. If you dislike what Facebook is doing, continuing to use Instagram only helps prop up Facebook’s business. As I wrote last month:
I think pushback against Instagram is coming, as more people who have already left Facebook also remember that Instagram has the same leadership, and the platform is far enough off track that even the founders have left. It’s a good time to be posting photos to your own blog instead of Instagram.
The pushback is accelerating. Basecamp started a Facebook Free campaign today to encourage other businesses to stop using Facebook and Instagram:
If Facebook’s endless privacy scandals have shown one thing, it’s that the company has far too much data on its users, and that they can’t be trusted not to sell, barter, or abuse that data whether for profit, growth, or negligence.
One of the reasons I remain so confident in Micro.blog is that it was built for moments like this, when public opinion shifts against the big social networks. I have a longer post here about finding our way to what’s needed next.