It’s now been six weeks since I started writing those Buy European bulletins. And now, with Meta’s frankly infantile reaction to the fine issued by the European Commission over their breaching of the Digital Markets Act, the time has come to tackle their services directly. Today, we’re learning how to leave Meta, how to leave Facebook, how to leave Instagram, and ultimately, how to leave a toxic relationship that, for many, has brought nothing but misery and decay.
Instead of Facebook use Friendica!
Instead of Instagram use Pixelfed!
Instead of Marketplace use Flohmarkt!
Instead of WhatsApp use Matrix!
Instead of Rapid use JOSM!
Thank you for that list. A link would have helped me to find the things I don’t know yet, such as Flohmarkt -i assume you mean this https://codeberg.org/flohmarkt/flohmarkt ?
Yup, that’s the source code of Flohmarkt! There’s also a lemmy community for it at !flohmarkt@lemmy.ca
The problem as usual is that you’re tied by the other people in the place, i cannot leave whatsapp as not only my family but pretty much everybody i know uses it as their main communications platform, no one actually gives a shit about the software or platform but all remain because they cannot leave behind other people.
Same issue with FB/IG, people stay because their whole social contacts stay. If something happened that made everybody leave at the same time there would be no issues, OR if the walls of the walled gardens were torn down so that people could freely leave without losing contact.
About the only realistic way to abandon these platforms is to leave and just accept losing contact with people, which is a gamble that doesn’t always pay, most of the time you just end up isolating yourself from others.
But do consider setting up an account on alternative platforms and posting more on there, then people will gradually move.
If no-one else in your group starts, then it could be you making the shift for all of them
It just takes time for people to notice the greener pastures.
As Signal went from 0.5m active users in 2019 to 70m in 2025.