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by Nextgrid 1721 days ago
If Facebook wasn't behaving anti-competitively by preventing interoperability this might work, but as of right now an individual may not always have a choice in using Facebook.

A lot of businesses, social clubs, schools/daycare centers, etc use Facebook as their primary online presence. Your option is to either sign up or not participate.
4 comments
ryandrake 1721 days ago
1. Don't participate

2. Communicate with the business through some other means (all local businesses I deal with have a phone), and if they don't provide one, then stop doing business there, too, and find a way to tell them why.

3. If your friends won't communicate with you simply because you won't use a Facebook-owned communication channel, then I have bad news for you: They might not really be great friends.

Sorry to be rude, but this idea that "you don't have a choice to use Facebook properties" is ridiculous. We all have a choice. I haven't used Facebook for close to 10 years now, and I never signed up for any of their other properties like Instagram and WhatsApp. I had an Oculus and stopped using it when the Facebook purchase happened. You do have a choice.

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wintermutestwin 1721 days ago
I am responsible for outreach of two local community based non-profits. FB is de-facto mandatory for us. Not participating would greatly hobble our ability to reach the people we serve. And, thanks to FB's crap, I am forced to manage the presence of these non-profits with an account created with my PII.
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wpietri 1721 days ago
I get that this advice works for you. What makes you so confident that you understand the situations of everybody else on the planet?
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Pxtl 1721 days ago
Swoop (a low-cost airline in Canada) runs their customer support portal through Facebook Messenger, and has a surcharge on their phone support.

You literally have to pay to avoid Facebook with Swoop.

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varelse 1721 days ago
I'm consciously uncoupling from Facebook over time. I'm down to a couple of groups, well one actually, before I disengage entirely in a month or two. You are correct that a lot of organizations make use of Facebook but somebody has to push back so why not you?

It has to start somewhere...

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mikro2nd 1721 days ago
In all such cases (and there certainly are a few) I decline to participate. Yes, Virginia, it really is just that simple.
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