Sounds like it. It happens with other Google services too. Someone could share a GDoc to your non-Gmail email, but if that non-Gmail email isn't a Google account, then you won't be able to access the doc/comments/whatever else (depending on the doc permissions, of course).
I suppose "harm" can be subjective in this context, and there are already some good replies here.
One more thing to add to the list that I'd consider harmful in creating a Gmail account is all of the privacy issues that come with having a Gmail account.
Out of respect for my recipients and myself, I wouldn't want all of our emails being read.
We can go down the rabbit hole of "Email is inherently insecure anyways," but that's a separate discussion.
Nice to see this as a standard, thanks. Edited to reflect this.
Why YSK: A Google account is not the same as a Gmail account, and you don't need to create a new Gmail email account to have a Google account.
I've spoken to many different people who equate a Google account to a Gmail account. This is not the case. Unfortunately, this leads to many new Gmail accounts being created, solely because they think that they need to have a Gmail in order to access other Google services.
Here's the gist:
A Google account gives you access to Google services like Sheets, Docs, Calendar, Drive, Photos, Gmail, YouTube, etc.
A Gmail account is an email service account with Google. When you create a Gmail, you also create a Google account by default.
However, the reverse is not true. If you create a Google account (with a non-Gmail email address), it does not automatically give you a Gmail account.
If you already have an email account with another provider, you can use that as your Google account.
For example: Let's say your email is jane@example.com. Rather than creating jane@gmail.com, you can opt to create a Google account with jane@example.com and avoid creating an account for Gmail.
Unfortunately, Google tries to get you to create a Gmail account during the process of creating a Google account. (see image).
It's important to differentiate this and prevent people from registering new Gmail accounts unnecessarily.
Thoughts and takeaways, plus 3 viable solutions:
Thoughts
1️⃣ I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Enshittification might be a good thing. Here's why
I don’t “like” that things have gotten this bad, but I do like that the worse things get, the more we can collectively organize and pressure reform to fix these things.
2️⃣ These tests are usually run on relatively small subsets of the user base. Remember when they rolled out hiding likes? That was rolled out periodically as well.
They typically also run different types of user bases. They already know the hardcore "influencers" and people who have built a public following will never leave the platform, since they're too invested already, and are the people/publications that contribute the most to network effects. I.e., you're on there because they're on there.
3️⃣ Remember when Tim Kendall (former executive at Facebook) says that they talked about Zuckerberg having ultimate control over these 3 distinct goals?
- Engagement: Drive up your usage. Keep you scrolling, liking, commenting, and remaining active on the platform.
- Growth: Encouraging you to keep coming back and inviting your friends, and getting them to invite their friends, and so on.
- Advertising: Make sure that as growth and engagement are happening, advertising revenue is maximized.
That's what's happening here—this is dial #3 being turned up.
Solutions
1. The most obvious: Delete your account
I know, I know—network effects are tough to break.
Tell your friends and family to delete theirs. Make yourself unreachable on Facebook-owned platforms.
Most people are posting less as traditional posts, and more as stories. If stories is your thing, Signal has stories. This is a really secure, private, and still convenient way to share whatever you want throughout the day.
If your favorite restaurant changes your dish's recipe, you'd prolly stop going, right? Well, that recipe's been changing, and we continue to put up with it despite an increasingly worse product.
2. For those looking for an alternative: Use Pixelfed
It doesn't have nearly the same type of content or user base size that Instagram does. But the same way that we built Facebook little by little, the same can be done for healthier alternative platforms.
This might also help your reduction in using social media, if you're looking for that.
3. For those who can't/will never leave Instagram: Use an open source native mobile app (Android-specific)
If you have an Android-based mobile operating system, there are apps like MyInsta and Instander that give you a native Instagram experience while blocking all of the ads.
They also have app-specific settings that allow you to customize your Instagram experience even further, such as (but limited to):
- Downloading photos/reels/entire carousels
- Reduces data sent to Instagram (analytics, ads, and other requests)
- Ghost mode
- Block reels, posts, stories, explore, comments, or whatever else
- Tons more
I run a basketball media outlet (InThePaintCrew) and a lifestyle/photography page (LifeViaChicago), and being able to modify the experience to remove the noise/clutter when a native Instagram app is needed is helpful.
Lol it was the other way around... I actually added a word instead. Fixed
Tap for spoiler
it
now.
Fixed it, thanks for flagging
Nice, thanks. Your site is really clean. Dig it.
Glad you like it.
And yeah, it's foundational. We tolerate things digitally that we'd never tolerate in person.
Once I start connecting and analogizing digital to physical concepts in a conversation, it appears to "click" in their heads and they end up saying something along the lines of, "You're right. It makes sense."
Hence this project. I hope people can use this website and link it to people who need it to understand how this affects us all—now, not in the future.
Not the first time facial recognition tech has been misused, and certainly won't be the last. The UK in particular has caught a lotta flak around this.
We seem to have a hard time connecting the digital world to the physical world and realizing just how interwoven they are at this point.
Therefore, I made an open source website called idcaboutprivacy to demonstrate the importance—and dangers—of tech like this.
It's a list of news articles that demonstrate real-life situations where people are impacted.
If you wanna contribute to the project, please do. I made it simple enough to where you don't need to know Git or anything advanced to contribute to it. (I don't even really know Git.)
Yep. Hence why we need to remake the internet.
That's nice of you, but it appears that the ad-supported business model doesn't work. It just results in enshittification and surveillance.
"We cannot have a society in which, if two people wish to communicate, the only way that it can happen is if it's financed by a third person who wishes to manipulate them."
Cases like these are why this extension exists: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/don-t-fuck-with-paste/
Nonprofit news organizations. The Markup has a very public-interest technology approach, and is most well-known for it's Blacklight tool.
California will be an incredible testbed to ground our work
The Markup CEO Nabiha Syed's announcement:
> I'm so thrilled to announce that CalMatters is acquiring The Markup in its entirety. The whole world is looking at California for both the innovation that comes out of Silicon Valley and the tech regulation that comes out of Sacramento. Bringing our data-driven approach to the deep CalMatters beats -- education, health, housing, AI -- is going to create change in California, the country, and the world.
Don't worry, it's not complicated at all. A little inconvenient maybe, but that's always the trade-off when it comes to privacy and security.
Here are the two most convenient ways that I can think of on each OS.
iOS: Bookmark the frontend URL. When you get sent a link, pop open the page and paste the TikTok URL.
Android: Get Firefox and set it as your default browser. Install the LibRedirect add-on (browser extension). Whenever you get sent a URL, just tap it and it'll automatically get redirected to the privacy-friendly frontend.
Only time will tell.
I know this one also went down recently for Instagram: proxigram.privacyfrontends.repl.co
But I'm not sure if it was an Instagram change that did it, or Replit took it down or what.
Most of my friends know better than to send me TikTok links. But for the few who still do, I use this open source frontend called ProxiTok.
To get TikTok links to redirect automatically on click, use the LibRedirect extension.
This is why enshittification might be a good thing ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Recently got a Line 6 POD GO, and all the preset configurations are really convenient. I'm sure there's endless other configs that I don't know about, so I'm curious:
- Is there a resource online somewhere that maps all the presets?
Since they don't have licensing, "Come As You Were" is Come As You Are, "Boulevard" is Boulevard of Broken Dreams, etc. But there are some more obscure ones that I don't recognize.
- Is there a crowdsourced place where people "open source" their configurations to show how they got to a song's specific sound?
Android and iOS are the two choices you have when you buy a smartphone today. But what if there was a third one? Enter Apostrophy OS.
Looks like it's taken some principles from GrapheneOS and other alternative ROMs.
- What're your first impressions?
- What questions/concerns do you have?
- Any other thoughts?
I'll start: KXNG Crooked - Order 66 (Musar)
If you're into lyrics, syllables, cadences, and wordplay, this song is for you.
I remember Slide for Reddit allowed you to choose who to comment as before doing so.
Does this exist for Lemmy yet?
Recently learned about the SynoCommunity packages, but I saw this comment for a package that HyperBackup might not recognize a package and thus not back it up. However, it was unclear if it was for the particular package, or if this is a shortcoming of the SynoCommunity packages—since it's a third-party thing, maybe it applies to all SynoCommunity packages.
Does anyone know if installing a package via SynoCommunity can be backed up through HyperBackup (or another way)? Thanks.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8834978
> No need to remove the URL tracking parameters manually. 🥳 > > !Firefox copy link without site tracking
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8834978
> No need to remove the URL tracking parameters manually. 🥳 > > !Firefox copy link without site tracking
No need to remove the URL tracking parameters manually. 🥳
Why YSK: Trackers don't do good for anyone except the platform, and they're not necessary to view the content in the URL.
---
It's courteous to not subject the recipient (most likely your friends and family) to this tracking. You're already sending them to the platform, which is tracking them in other ways. But you can help reduce that tracking by removing everything after the ampersand in the URL. Here are some examples.
Twitter example
URL: https://x.com/CookieSlayers/status/1623712884902567937?s=20
The s=20 is a Twitter-specific parameter to show that the tweet was copied from the web app. s=46 is iOS, and I can't remember what Android's code is. This is a relatively clean link, but there are some links that'll concatenate unique identifiers, like: https://x.com/CookieSlayers/status/1623712884902567937?s=20&t=Fn47fnSDJUD74bd9.
In this case, you'll notice there's also a &t= parameter, which is a unique identifier to the person who shared it.
The only part of the URL you need is https://x.com/CookieSlayers/status/1623712884902567937.
Instagram example:
URL: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzP877du2EB/?igshid=MzRlODCFWFlZA==
The only part of the URL you need is https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzP877du2EB.
TikTok example
URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@inthepaintcrew/video/7301348328602717482?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7302915057791436331
You'll notice TikTok's is a lot more readable in terms of what the URL contains.
The is_from_webapp parameter is self-explanatory, as is the sender_device, and then there's the identifier that's unique to you. In this case, 7302915057791436331.
The only part of the URL you need is https://www.tiktok.com/@inthepaintcrew/video/7301348328602717482.
---
The best route1 would be to use privacy-respecting frontends, but if you don't, simply deleting everything after the ampersand goes a long way.
1The best route would actually be to not use/reward platforms that are literally destroying humanity, but we're not there yet, so... in the meantime, let's just try to decrease the tracking and stop subjecting our friends and family to it as much as possible.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5935182 ># What is this product, and what does it do? > > Reddit Account Manager allows you to keep track of all of your accounts, subreddit subscriptions, and bookmarks—all in one place. > > # How does this product help me? > > Reddit Account Manager acts as a database repository for your Reddit accounts, so that if and when you decide to delete your Reddit account, you have your accounts, subscriptions, and bookmarks all in one place. With Reddit Account Manager, you'll: > > - Know exactly when you created every account > - Know how much post/comment karma each account has > - Know when it's time to delete an account > - Have all your subscriptions mapped out and ready to go for the next account you create > - Save all your bookmarks, even if your accounts are long gone > - Know when an account is active, deleted, or not created yet > > # Why did you build this product? > > Despite many Redditors' desires to delete their account and start a new one, many refrain from doing so for multiple reasons. Reasons include (but are not limited to): > > - Losing track of the subreddits they're subscribed to > - Losing bookmarks > - Lack of data export functionality from Reddit > - Time and effort in switching (and ditching) accounts > > ## Why have multiple Reddit accounts, and why would I want to delete them periodically? > > All of your Reddit activity is public. Over time, you become increasingly identifiable. By having multiple Reddit accounts designated to specific subreddits/interests, and deleting them after some time, you: > > - Maintain pseudo-anonymity > - Subscribe to different subreddits across different accounts > - Keep a low profile and mix up data > > ## Which platform do I need to use Reddit Account Manager? > > You can use it out-of-the-box with any the following: > > - Airtable > - Baserow > - Notion > - Coda > - ClickUp > > ## Can I use this to store or migrate my Reddit data now that Reddit has killed third-party apps? > > Absolutely, yep. You can (and should) use it however it works best for you. > > ## Why did you make it free? > > We all deserve privacy and to not be tracked all over the web. I knew this could bring value to every single Reddit user who wants to delete their account, start a new one, or simply keep track of everything you want to, so that if you ever do want to destroy your account, you'll be able to without worrying about losing track of it all. > > And given Reddit's recent controversial decisions, Reddit Account Manager serves as a great tool to export your data and take it with you wherever you go next.
I'm finding that I like bits and pieces from the various available frontends, but I haven't heavily gravitated towards one in particular.
If you have gravitated towards a specific UI, which one and why?
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5935182
What is this product, and what does it do?
Reddit Account Manager allows you to keep track of all of your accounts, subreddit subscriptions, and bookmarks—all in one place.
How does this product help me?
Reddit Account Manager acts as a database repository for your Reddit accounts, so that if and when you decide to delete your Reddit account, you have your accounts, subscriptions, and bookmarks all in one place. With Reddit Account Manager, you'll:
- Know exactly when you created every account
- Know how much post/comment karma each account has
- Know when it's time to delete an account
- Have all your subscriptions mapped out and ready to go for the next account you create
- Save all your bookmarks, even if your accounts are long gone
- Know when an account is active, deleted, or not created yet
Why did you build this product?
Despite many Redditors' desires to delete their account and start a new one, many refrain from doing so for multiple reasons. Reasons include (but are not limited to):
- Losing track of the subreddits they're subscribed to
- Losing bookmarks
- Lack of data export functionality from Reddit
- Time and effort in switching (and ditching) accounts
Why have multiple Reddit accounts, and why would I want to delete them periodically?
All of your Reddit activity is public. Over time, you become increasingly identifiable. By having multiple Reddit accounts designated to specific subreddits/interests, and deleting them after some time, you:
- Maintain pseudo-anonymity
- Subscribe to different subreddits across different accounts
- Keep a low profile and mix up data
Which platform do I need to use Reddit Account Manager?
You can use it out-of-the-box with any the following:
- Airtable
- Baserow
- Notion
- Coda
- ClickUp
Can I use this to store or migrate my Reddit data now that Reddit has killed third-party apps?
Absolutely, yep. You can (and should) use it however it works best for you.
Why did you make it free?
We all deserve privacy and to not be tracked all over the web. I knew this could bring value to every single Reddit user who wants to delete their account, start a new one, or simply keep track of everything you want to, so that if you ever do want to destroy your account, you'll be able to without worrying about losing track of it all.
And Reddit's recent decisions, Reddit Account Manager serves as a great tool to export your data and take it with you wherever you go next.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5935182
What is this product, and what does it do?
Reddit Account Manager allows you to keep track of all of your accounts, subreddit subscriptions, and bookmarks—all in one place.
How does this product help me?
Reddit Account Manager acts as a database repository for your Reddit accounts, so that if and when you decide to delete your Reddit account, you have your accounts, subscriptions, and bookmarks all in one place. With Reddit Account Manager, you'll:
- Know exactly when you created every account
- Know how much post/comment karma each account has
- Know when it's time to delete an account
- Have all your subscriptions mapped out and ready to go for the next account you create
- Save all your bookmarks, even if your accounts are long gone
- Know when an account is active, deleted, or not created yet
Why did you build this product?
Despite many Redditors' desires to delete their account and start a new one, many refrain from doing so for multiple reasons. Reasons include (but are not limited to):
- Losing track of the subreddits they're subscribed to
- Losing bookmarks
- Lack of data export functionality from Reddit
- Time and effort in switching (and ditching) accounts
Why have multiple Reddit accounts, and why would I want to delete them periodically?
All of your Reddit activity is public. Over time, you become increasingly identifiable. By having multiple Reddit accounts designated to specific subreddits/interests, and deleting them after some time, you:
- Maintain pseudo-anonymity
- Subscribe to different subreddits across different accounts
- Keep a low profile and mix up data
Which platform do I need to use Reddit Account Manager?
You can use it out-of-the-box with any the following:
- Airtable
- Baserow
- Notion
- Coda
- ClickUp
Can I use this to store or migrate my Reddit data now that Reddit has killed third-party apps?
Absolutely, yep. You can (and should) use it however it works best for you.
Why did you make it free?
We all deserve privacy and to not be tracked all over the web. I knew this could bring value to every single Reddit user who wants to delete their account, start a new one, or simply keep track of everything you want to, so that if you ever do want to destroy your account, you'll be able to without worrying about losing track of it all.
And Reddit's recent decisions, Reddit Account Manager serves as a great tool to export your data and take it with you wherever you go next.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5935182
What is this product, and what does it do?
Reddit Account Manager allows you to keep track of all of your accounts, subreddit subscriptions, and bookmarks—all in one place.
How does this product help me?
Reddit Account Manager acts as a database repository for your Reddit accounts, so that if and when you decide to delete your Reddit account, you have your accounts, subscriptions, and bookmarks all in one place. With Reddit Account Manager, you'll:
- Know exactly when you created every account
- Know how much post/comment karma each account has
- Know when it's time to delete an account
- Have all your subscriptions mapped out and ready to go for the next account you create
- Save all your bookmarks, even if your accounts are long gone
- Know when an account is active, deleted, or not created yet
Why did you build this product?
Despite many Redditors' desires to delete their account and start a new one, many refrain from doing so for multiple reasons. Reasons include (but are not limited to):
- Losing track of the subreddits they're subscribed to
- Losing bookmarks
- Lack of data export functionality from Reddit
- Time and effort in switching (and ditching) accounts
Why have multiple Reddit accounts, and why would I want to delete them periodically?
All of your Reddit activity is public. Over time, you become increasingly identifiable. By having multiple Reddit accounts designated to specific subreddits/interests, and deleting them after some time, you:
- Maintain pseudo-anonymity
- Subscribe to different subreddits across different accounts
- Keep a low profile and mix up data
Which platform do I need to use Reddit Account Manager?
You can use it out-of-the-box with any the following:
- Airtable
- Baserow
- Notion
- Coda
- ClickUp
Can I use this to store or migrate my Reddit data now that Reddit has killed third-party apps?
Absolutely, yep. You can (and should) use it however it works best for you.
Why did you make it free?
We all deserve privacy and to not be tracked all over the web. I knew this could bring value to every single Reddit user who wants to delete their account, start a new one, or simply keep track of everything you want to, so that if you ever do want to destroy your account, you'll be able to without worrying about losing track of it all.
And Reddit's recent decisions, Reddit Account Manager serves as a great tool to export your data and take it with you wherever you go next.
What is this product, and what does it do?
Reddit Account Manager allows you to keep track of all of your accounts, subreddit subscriptions, and bookmarks—all in one place.
How does this product help me?
Reddit Account Manager acts as a database repository for your Reddit accounts, so that if and when you decide to delete your Reddit account, you have your accounts, subscriptions, and bookmarks all in one place. With Reddit Account Manager, you'll:
- Know exactly when you created every account
- Know how much post/comment karma each account has
- Know when it's time to delete an account
- Have all your subscriptions mapped out and ready to go for the next account you create
- Save all your bookmarks, even if your accounts are long gone
- Know when an account is active, deleted, or not created yet
Why did you build this product?
Despite many Redditors' desires to delete their account and start a new one, many refrain from doing so for multiple reasons. Reasons include (but are not limited to):
- Losing track of the subreddits they're subscribed to
- Losing bookmarks
- Lack of data export functionality from Reddit
- Time and effort in switching (and ditching) accounts
Why have multiple Reddit accounts, and why would I want to delete them periodically?
All of your Reddit activity is public. Over time, you become increasingly identifiable. By having multiple Reddit accounts designated to specific subreddits/interests, and deleting them after some time, you:
- Maintain pseudo-anonymity
- Subscribe to different subreddits across different accounts
- Keep a low profile and mix up data
Which platform do I need to use Reddit Account Manager?
You can use it out-of-the-box with any the following:
- Airtable
- Baserow
- Notion
- Coda
- ClickUp
Can I use this to store or migrate my Reddit data now that Reddit has killed third-party apps?
Absolutely, yep. You can (and should) use it however it works best for you.
Why did you make it free?
We all deserve privacy and to not be tracked all over the web. I knew this could bring value to every single Reddit user who wants to delete their account, start a new one, or simply keep track of everything you want to, so that if you ever do want to destroy your account, you'll be able to without worrying about losing track of it all.
And given Reddit's recent controversial decisions, Reddit Account Manager serves as a great tool to export your data and take it with you wherever you go next.
Am I the only one experiencing this error when checking for notifications? Any idea why this is happening and a possible fix?
