In my edit I explicitly stated that it should be paid out elsewhere if you planned to invest any money at all into social media.
I’m not justifying their practices because they’re basically quadruple dipping now, but I am pointing out the hypocrisy in being appalled at paying for social media
That’s because you’re just looking at the app. People use them to communicate with other people in different ways.
For example if I meet a woman I like, it’s infinitely more socially acceptable to ask for her instagram than it is for her number after meeting.
A lot of my family communicates on Facebook where they can share photos, watch and catch up with each other.
Maybe you can just give up social media. I can too and I did. But for many it’s the only gateway connecting them to other people in a more than convenient way. There’s absolutely nothing sad about that.
Some people are addicted, and it can be toxic for others but it’s utility is still incredible.
Best case scenario, the Fediverse kicks off and becomes main stream enough to replace Meta products and others. Which is what I would love to see, personally speaking.
Genuine concern,
How did people think stuff like this would be funded?
I’m pretty anti corporation and capitalism, and pro open-source but this just sounds like regular inflammatory content.
There seems to be a disconnect on the internet that everything should be completely free, ignoring all the costs that go into setting up websites and web applications.
The money for it has to come from somewhere. If you want to protect your privacy (which you should) then you’d be better off paying for services like that than not. It’s been circlejerked to death but: If it’s free, you’re the product.
Even Lemmy is not immune. Sure it’s FOSS, but it’s not free to host. Someone has to pay for servers, data, web domains and more.
No matter what you do, if you want access to social media you’re going to have to shell out some cash, somewhere.
Edit: I might get the eventual “oh they’re going to make you pay AND still sell your data so why should you pay?” You don’t. You put your money elsewhere if you were even considering paying. Invest in Lemmy and the Fediverse. Invest in your local server. There’s plenty more options.
I live in a major city in the US and it’s definitely common place here. A lot of women justifiably don’t like giving out their personal number due to the number of bad experiences with men. By using IG instead, it provides a buffer.
I have asked for and received numbers but most people typically offer some sort of social media first and then only share numbers after you’ve shown that you’re not a raging creep.