The saying goes if you’re not the customer, you’re the product. Now, you’re both. Every big social media app is testing subscriptions. It's a business model that comes with a perverse incentive. Just like airlines, if you make life worse, more people will pay.
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Is this really a thing now? Any idea why it’s considered more acceptable? It’s definitely not a thing in my social circles and it got me curious.
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Sounds weird to me as both can be used for the general creepiness and both allow blocking people if needed. I just don’t see the benefit of one over the other here.
EDIT: The other comment explained it to me, I understand it now.
Also depends on how you explain why you don’t have any, I originally gave up Facebook because I went through a bad breakup and figured a break would be for the best, the only time I ever logged in again was to delete it, Instagram came shortly after. I don’t think I’ve asked for anyone’s number that told me no after telling them why I’m difficult to Google, and in my experience most people treat social media the way a 20 year smoker treats cigarettes, they know they should quit and intend to at some nebulous point in the future
Because it’s far less susceptible to abuse. The block button will deal with anyone being a creep or asshole.
If someone wanted to be abusive, they could come by the address you gave them to send letters or bombard your phone with abuse via the number you gave them for texting.
Even for phones that can block calls and texts coming from a given number, withheld numbers are a thing and they could still sign you up to all sorts of SMS services.
Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense! I didn’t consider all these other possibilities.
See, to me, all of those people are willing to trade their privacy for convenience. And the fact that others are getting rich off of sifting through and collecting all of this data also is wrong in my opinion. To each his/her/their own, but I still think it’s sad how dependent people have become on social media.
They are, in exchange for a free service.
So how should social media companies make money?
Social media is an undisputed upgrade over what came before. Back in the day if you wanted to stay in contact with someone, the only methods of doing so opened floodgates for abusive pricks to make your life a living hell. If you wanted to have group discussions about a certain topic, your only real option was in person.
I guess my real problem with this is how underhanded they seem to be with the information they collect. I know they need to pay the bills, but they could definitely be more upfront and open about what they gather on people.
Yeah there absolutely have been consequences for me not using it. It’s hard to keep in touch with people and I only date weirdos who are cool with my strange lifestyle.
To your point, there is nothing wrong with making a social media account to serve a specific purpose. Just having the account doesn’t mean you have to install the app and post everything about yourself. If you have one for family, set it all private and only share things you would post publicly. Same for dating, work, etc. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. I did give up all the major social media, but there was a time I needed to make a Facebook account to coordinate with student clubs that I was an advisor for. Once I no longer did the advising, I deleted the account. Yeah, they have the data I shared. Dates and times of student meetings and recommendations on how students organize events. Nothing to clutch pearls about.