The thing is, say you meet someone for the first time irl. Next day, you’re interested maintaining some sort of connection with them but you don’t have their phone number, only their name. What do you do? Search for them on Instagram. There’s no way you will be finding them on say Mastodon or Pixelfed, especially in developing countries where for 99% of the people, Facebook = The whole ass internet. That’s the harsh truth. I use instagram only to maintain those not so close friendships and connections, and by “maintain” I mean follwing them and liking their posts from time to time. I might open IG once or twice in a week from the browser. As for Facebook, I deleted my account a while ago.
Yes that’s the ideal goal, I should always keep that in mind. But what about the people who are looking for YOU on social media? Or what about your long lost childhood friends who you never exchanged phone numbers with? Instagram can thus be a back up; but ultimately you’re right.
I’m certainly more of an exception than a rule regarding those types of relationships, but I use a personal website instead of any social media to publish my projects (I also refer to it when applying to jobs) and frankly don’t give a damn about any childhood friends.
But I can see why, this approach may already be too “radical” for many people.
You could deactivate it at least and try to use the above for 2 weeks if it does satisfy your needs, then go on and delete it as it will benefit your privacy and mental health more than you think despite the cons of not having an account.
I used to use both Bibliogram and Barinsta but both are not functioning anymore due to Facebook’s aggressive ratelimiting. There’s no more feeds on all bibliogram instances I tried and barinsta’s anonymous browsing doesn’t work anymore. I will look at feedsta though.
The thing is, say you meet someone for the first time irl. Next day, you’re interested maintaining some sort of connection with them but you don’t have their phone number, only their name. What do you do? Search for them on Instagram. There’s no way you will be finding them on say Mastodon or Pixelfed, especially in developing countries where for 99% of the people, Facebook = The whole ass internet. That’s the harsh truth. I use instagram only to maintain those not so close friendships and connections, and by “maintain” I mean follwing them and liking their posts from time to time. I might open IG once or twice in a week from the browser. As for Facebook, I deleted my account a while ago.
Well I’m not an expert on any form of relationships, but why not simply ask for the number?
Yes that’s the ideal goal, I should always keep that in mind. But what about the people who are looking for YOU on social media? Or what about your long lost childhood friends who you never exchanged phone numbers with? Instagram can thus be a back up; but ultimately you’re right.
I’m certainly more of an exception than a rule regarding those types of relationships, but I use a personal website instead of any social media to publish my projects (I also refer to it when applying to jobs) and frankly don’t give a damn about any childhood friends.
But I can see why, this approach may already be too “radical” for many people.
Your use case could be covered without instagram account by the following:
Android: Feedsta
Desktop: Bibliogram
You could deactivate it at least and try to use the above for 2 weeks if it does satisfy your needs, then go on and delete it as it will benefit your privacy and mental health more than you think despite the cons of not having an account.
I used to use both Bibliogram and Barinsta but both are not functioning anymore due to Facebook’s aggressive ratelimiting. There’s no more feeds on all bibliogram instances I tried and barinsta’s anonymous browsing doesn’t work anymore. I will look at feedsta though.