Would you use threads if it respected your privacy?
I keep seeing everyone say their privacy is why they aren't going to use threads. I don't think that's entirely true. I think most of us here have a hatred so deep for meta that even if they made the greatest app on earth, we'd still not use it. So, if threads actually respected your privacy would you use it?
Personally, no. Facebook/Meta has instilled absolutely zero goodwill in me as a platform and as a product it brings nothing new to the table to entice me in. Their userbase size is their only potential benefit, and tbh that has never been a draw for myself.
And that's all assuming they actually respected my privacy, which I don't believe for a moment they would ever do.
I would never trust that it would respect my privacy in the first place. Why would anyone think they're going to turn over a new leaf just because they released a new service?!
Nope. I'm boycotting META not only because of the privacy issues, but because of their history in general. I won't support such a fucked up corporation.
I never liked the concept of Twitter and therefore never used it. Why would I use a knock-off?
Regarding Meta and privacy let's never forget that Facebook started with stolen student data right in its first version. Zuckerberg is a piece of shit and can never be trusted.
A) Not a fan of Meta. I still have a FB account purely because I have a few friends I'll lose contact with otherwise but for a decade now it's been seeded with nothing but memes and incorrect information about myself so w/e.
B) I deactivated my Instagram account years ago and have zero desire to 1, reactivate it, 2, reactivate it to use a Twitter clone by Meta of all things.
C) The amount of time I ever spent on Twitter was minimal to begin with, and I've already replaced it with Mastodon so I have even less use for Threads than I do Twitter right now.
D) LOL NO
E) After seeing their immediate, initial attempt at an app being basically spyware, the trust is already right out the Window.
I don't think it really matters. Meta has proven time and time again that they don't care about your privacy. Even if they are doing the right thing this time, trust needs to be earned.
If Threads wasn't Threads and wasn't part of the Meta ecosystem, and this could be guaranteed to me forever, sure I might use whatever that would be. But that's so far from reality as to be a meaningless question.
I've been waiting for the return of non-commercial social media for a decade now. I have it. It's here, and I'm not voluntarily handing over any of my thoughts or ideas for someone else to make money off of ever again.
It's pretty well established that short-form social media piping you content via a biased algo - e.g. Twitter, TikTok and now Threads - is pretty terrible for your mental health. So, no. I exclude Mastodon from that list as there's no harmful algo.
In general, I think it's more unnecessary bloating of social media apps. Sometimes it feels like we're headed for a social media equivalent of the 1983 US video game market crash.
Threads would/could be the 'E.T. for the Atari 2600' in this scenario.