In the last couple of weeks I’ve:
- Deactivated my Facebook account.
- Logged out of Twitter on my desktop.
- Stopped using Google Contacts, Calendar and Photos
I’m not really sure why, but there it is, I have. I think over the last five years in excitement at the good user experience and high user adoption, I forgot why I was negative about such centralised, out of control services in the first place.
There’s something dehumanising about being subject to them. The behaviour patterns they induce feel harmful to me. They disengage me from the world.
We need to think about and improve our information systems to be good for us, empowering, productive. Just using the default commoditised, VC-funded options leaves no room for that. We’re stuck with whatever we’re given. There’s no choice, no competition, no diversity. It’s dangerously too early to have no diversity in information systems.
It used to be that there was constant innovation and public discussion and experimentation about how social groups are formed and how communication happened on the network. The nearest you see now is discussion of varying moderation policies of subreddits, which is at least healthy. More of that please.
So instead…
- I’m posting on this blog, which uses software (WordPress) I’ve been using for 15 years, on a server run by Bytemark, a northern UK small business.
- I use Riot for some discussions, such as #redecentralize.
- My contacts and calendar have gone over to Fastmail which I was using anyway.
- My photos I keep myself, on the same Bytemark server, synced to my laptop and phone with bits of string and Resilio.
In the main this costs more in cash and time for me to do. Is it worth it? That’s not really the question, it isn’t really a choice.
If you want to keep in touch, perhaps email me or write me a letter or phone me up. Or write a blog post on your own blog, and leave the link in a comment here. Join a channel I’m in in Riot and say hello to me. Invite me to join some new blockchain-based chat system I haven’t heard of yet. Invite me to the pub by SMS. Come round to my house to see me.
Off to not Tweet this. Maybe you could give me a pingback, or leave a comment!
Facebook is such a waste of time. How many emails a day can one cope with. I often delete before reading as the posts are so trivial, even for a dunce like me! All this “Like” stuff seems childish. I think I will opt out too.
You’re right that “Like” is childish.
When absorbed in Facebook it is easy to forget how lowest common denominator it is, culturally.
Hi, I came across your website while browsing Google and noticed the overall brand identity could be refined to better reflect the quality of your business.
I’m a Fiverr Pro–vetted brand identity designer, and I created a concept specifically for your business to show what a more cohesive and aligned visual direction could look like. You’re welcome to review it and only move forward if you genuinely feel it adds value — there’s absolutely no obligation.
You can view the concept here:
https://tinyurl.com/Stavroula-brand-update
Best,
Stavroula
Hello,
I found your website while browsing in your niche.
Many website owners are using this SEO tool to find keywords and analyze competitors.
You can try it here:
https://bit.ly/4bpajr8
It may help improve your search traffic.
Best regards
Imagine if flourish.org could harness TikTok for genuine leads? Our AI-powered growth service targets the ideal users—based on hashtags they use and accounts they follow—to boost your reach and drive traffic back to you. We’ve had similar websites see 100+ leads in 30 days.
Want to make TikTok work for flourish.org? Get more information here: https://boostgrow.co/
Hi, I came across your website while browsing Google and noticed the overall brand identity could be refined to better reflect the quality of your business.
I’m a Fiverr Pro–vetted brand identity designer, and I created a concept specifically for your business to show what a more cohesive and aligned visual direction could look like. You’re welcome to review it and only move forward if you genuinely feel it adds value — there’s absolutely no obligation.
You can view the concept here:
https://tinyurl.com/Stavroula-brand-update
Best,
Stavroula
Hi, I came across your website on Google and feel your brand identity could better reflect your business quality.
I’m a Fiverr Pro brand identity designer, and I created a concept specifically for your business to show what a more cohesive and aligned visual direction could look like. You can review it with no obligation only move forward if it adds value.
View here: https://tinyurl.com/Stavroula-brand-update
Best,
Stavroula
Hi there,
Not sure who on your team handles Google Ads — could you point me to the right person?
My name is Ivan. I specialize in Google Ads and Google Ad Grants (and I share paid-ad strategies on YouTube).
I visited your website: https://www.flourish.org/2017/12/on-using-a-variety-of-information-services/ and we are seeing that you guys are currently running Google Ads or have tried in the past.
If you guys want, we could help you save a lot of money for a lifetime on the Google Ad Grants account that has a $10K/month free ad spend credit (provided and paid by Google Ads each month), meaning that you don’t have to spend a dime each month to get free quality leads and sales.
With our expertise on Google Ads, we can also help you set up successful ad campaigns, manage and optimize them to get you more customers/clients.
If you have any questions private email me at: ivan@doneforyou-campaigns.com
If you’re not the right contact, please forward this or let me know who I should contact. Thanks for your time — I appreciate it.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Ivan Ramirez
Ad Grants Lab
http://10k-youtubevideo.xyz
If you would like to opt-out of communication with us, visit:https://bit.ly/websiteoptout
Hi,
I’d like to propose a straightforward link exchange.
I can link to flourish.org from 5 legitimate local business websites (DR30+), at no cost. In return, you’d link to 5 different of my client sites from your end — purely for mutual SEO value.
Let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll send over the site list.
Regards,
Clark
Attract high-intent, keyword and location-targeted traffic to your site with our AI-optimized solution, far more affordable than traditional paid ads. Start scaling now.
https://ow.ly/JKzl50XSII5