So as I write this, I realise that some of the relevance will fade over time. But as of January 2021, it is time for a change.
As a privacy and free speech advocate (including the conviction that unpopular speech must be equally preserved), I have seen a huge erosion of these on big-tech Social Media in the past 12 months. I mean it was always a growing problem, but 2020 was a wake up call of all wake up calls.
It is clear that although not directly ‘elected’ in a traditional sense, we have voted power to the big-tech global elite, with our usage of their platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Google/YouTube, Apple and others. And to the point where these have wielded more influence, suppressed dissent, brainwashed mass populations and abused their power far greater than anything that the much despised President Trump could have dreamed to have done.
I have had a few people now suggest other alternates to me, such as Discord, Parler, Signal and others. The following image is one that came up shared by a user.
For the record, I’m not endorsing all of the information here. For context, this is just an example of what is being said:
I have been using Parler for some time. It seems to be a lot more classically ‘liberal’ purely in the sense/terms of free speech. Though I understand that, as a direct result, sanctions are now being levied against this to suppress it. According to BBC News (sorry) on 09th January 2021:
Google has suspended “free speech” social network Parler from its Play Store over its failure to remove “egregious content”.
Parler styles itself as “unbiased” social media and has proved popular with people banned from Twitter.
But Google said the app had failed to remove posts inciting violence.
Apple has also warned Parler it will remove the app from its App Store if it does not comply with its content-moderation requirements.
On Parler, the app’s chief executive John Matze said: “We won’t cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech!”
SOURCE: BBC – ‘Google suspends ‘free speech’ app Parler’ – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55598887
The BBC article goes on to imply that we are all Far-Right bigots for using the platform, the usual bullshit and fear mongering. Oh man, I don’t miss my TV license. Legally cancelling was a 2020 high-point for me!.
Rewinding a bit, going back to the image further above, some of the other platforms have been accused of being Far Right such as gab.com… but then again so have I (laughably), so who knows what to believe?. Use your own judgement and don’t be brainwashed by the mainstream media and the big-tech corporate elite.
The only other alternative service I have used so far on the above image is Signal, which seems to work much the same way as WhatsApp (but with the bonus of not being owned by Facebook), pulling in your phone contacts. Signal gives you end-to-end encrypted messages, as well as voice and video calls. This means that no one but your device and conversational partner’s device can read the messages that you send. Nothing unique, but as I say it is one step further away from Facebook than Whatsapp at least, which is a thumbs-up! I’ve managed to get a few of my friends using it, so that’s a step forward.
Also, I have a family member that very helpfully sent me some good information on the Telegram messenger app (also suggested alongside the Signal one in the image above). It sounds like one to consider, so I shall be doing shortly. See the following recent article from Business Standard:
Business Standard: Users shun WhatsApp to join Telegram, Signal amid rising data concerns
Final thoughts on the state of social media.
I did post on my Facebook that I will be deleting not only the Facebook app, but also the Chat app for it too. My account will remain for the time being but generally static. I’m more or less done… I’m out. I’ll check back for genuine necessity, e.g. to announce a funeral or whatever.
In posting this though, I was understandably asked why I was doing this. I’ll repeat some of my response here:
I’ve always been warned about this coming down the line on social media. The combined loss of privacy as well as free speech, to a degree not seen before in the USA and UK (where I am). The noose is tightening. I can’t keep just casually using these platforms any more.
Not to mention the damaging effects that social media has had on iGen (i.e. those born from 1995 onwards). The big-tech social media conditioning that they have been put under is incredible and is explaining a lot. This generation grew up with the introduction of open access to Facebook and the smartphone from around 2006 onward. Then later began College/University right around 2013, which is exactly when we saw the explosion of the campus craziness with the SJW cult of Wokeness, intersectional postmodernist neoMarxist identity politics and Safe-Space microaggression trigger-warning nonsense.
Many schools of thought exist on the iGen part. But I’d say that any generation that is brought up to view the world through a screen (rather than being in the field), whether it is a TV screen or the screen of a smartphone, is running the risk of having a major brain rewiring. Whether it is young girls on social media with pressures of inflated beauty and popularity standards/expectations or young lads playing video games and watching porn. All of this when lived though a screen… it does a rewiring.
Then there’s the brainwashing that goes on by design. These younger ones (iGen, born from around 1995 onwards) grew up with smartphones and social media as a way of life. Their minds, souls, spirits are play-doh for the sinister forces that control these platforms. Did I mention something a few paragraphs up about a campus craziness with the SJW cult of Wokeness, intersectional postmodernist neoMarxist identity politics and Safe-Space microaggression trigger-warning nonsense. Sorry if this is getting repetitive.
Much discussion to be had and it is certainly a can of worms. I’d recommend a few books such as The Coddling of the American Mind as one to start with. It’s a very good read. See my Recommended Reading page.
Anyway. I will continue to check in on these new alternate Social Media platforms and report back, promoting the good and denouncing the bad. Feel free to leave a comment below, ideally with your thoughts and suggestions. Maybe I’ll add a ‘recommended’ page to the site under the Menu. Check back.
And one last item to end on a positive note. Candace Owens has a pretty good campaign on the go at the moment. Details in the following video. Very relevant to what I have written above.
Joseph.
P.S. Shout out to Neil for the suggestion with Signal.