Meta’s pivot to the right sparks boycotts and a user exodus
Meta’s pivot to the right sparks boycotts and a user exodus
Some users are fleeing Meta platforms to alternatives like Bluesky.
Summary
Meta's recent shift to right-leaning policies, including ending fact-checking in the U.S., scaling back content moderation, and allowing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, has sparked boycotts and a user exodus.
The company also disbanded its diversity, equity, and inclusion team, drawing criticism.
Prominent users like director Cord Jefferson and nonprofits like Equal Access Public Media have left or reduced activity on Meta platforms.
Many are migrating to alternatives such as Bluesky, Amigahood, and Tumblr, while some remain trapped due to Meta's dominance in communication and business.
If you stay on facebook/whatsapp/instagram/threads you're kind of complicit... It might be convenient, fun or profitable to be complicit, but you're the product that they sell; you're the social network keeping other people there; you're the reach for the ads and misinformation.
Either you leave, or you're helping zuck.
Tell people how to reach you. Contact them once in a while if you actually want to stay in touch.
Same thing as Harris trying to cater to MAGA with anti-immigrant rhetoric and all that. They already hate her, so it doesn't win them over, but alienates the followers.
I'm still frustrated that everything people sell is just on Facebook marketplace now. No one uses stuff like Craigslist anymore, and it's super frustrating cause I periodically wanna get something used but really hate that everything is just listed on facebook
We have KSL Classifieds here in Utah. Also covers parts of Idaho and Colorado.
I moved from Craigslist to OfferUp and apps like that. I'd only go on FB marketplace for maybe a used car, and only in this area because there are so many Boomer car heads out here selling decent shit for super low, and they probably only know about FB marketplace.
Thankfully a lot of people here in Canada still use Kijiji over Marketplace.
Honestly, it's between the UI and the chat feature. And the fact it's at least slightly tied to your identity. And selling on Craigslist being kind of clunky still. They could probably make up the difference if they tried.
I hear you. It's super frustrating when buying, but at the same time you can get like double the price for your shit on marketplace while selling. That's a tough one to give up, even for the staunchest of meta critics.
I use OfferUp, It's great.
Try shopgoodwill.com
I have a hard time believing boomers are leaving FB for this.
They only leave when they die which is pretty often. If this election has showed anything the very young are right leaning. Meta just filling the funnel with whoever they can get.
Zuck wanted Trump to fuck him after the whole shooting thing in Butler, PA. Zuck is a Hitler fanboy.
And people wonder why tiktokers aren't moving to Instagram after the app ban
Good, fuck’em
Meta/Zuck have been far right for years, they are just wearing their hoods now because Trump is looking to the big tech companies to be his State Media.
I miss when this was only sort of true and mostly hyperbole.
Tbf, people should have moved on from Instagram/Facebook from years ago tbh, esp as there are decent, ethical alternatives out there but as usual, people don’t really care unless it affects them personally or their social rep.
The fact that people are flocking over to RedNote, Lemon8, Tumblr, Bluesky and other platforms, despite them being problematic either due to privacy issues/ceos stances on political issues like trans rights etc or the techbros involve want to destroy the environment, proves the point itself.
The people that are moving out of TikTok etc are literally making no difference to stopping the rise of fascism, besides making themselves feel better about themselves about the whole thing.
Still an improvement to weaken zuck and musk though.
People moving from tiktok are basically moving out of protest of the ban, not anything else.
Meta is becoming more right-wing, but TikTok is being banned. Where users choose to go has nothing to do with stopping the rise of fascism in the latter case.
What is the alternative that people are going to, and how is their moderation?
I don't use any of that stuff, but I saw this here about Pixelfed the other day:
Took them long enough. I left that place over 10 years ago.
Oh holy fuck, that's a must watch every time I'm led to it LMAO
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the moral panic caused by this, at least a little. It shows that the pendulum is indeed swinging back from the woke left toward a more reasonable, rational center.
Disagreeing with things like DEI programs doesn’t make someone far-right - it just means they’re not far-left. You might not like it, but the reality is that the vast majority of people don’t agree with many of the views that are overrepresented on left-wing social media platforms like Lemmy. Doubling down on it just means losing more elections.
Gaslighting LGBTQ folks. Misogynistic stances towards women. Nationalist stances towards immigration.
Seems far-right to me.
If you have a good faith argument as to how that's not Nazi shit other than, 'DEI hires are woke', I'd love to hear it. Because it seems like you based your whole argument on a very narrow understanding of the situation.
Is your idea of the "rational" center removing fact checking, reducing content moderation on political topics (which if history is of any indication means letting far right content to spread) and allowing the use of hateful speech against people you don't like? I guess the fact that you think DEI is a far-left idea does indicate that you do think that would be the center.
Tough talk from a UK instance chud named "free opinions" who hides behind phrases like "rational argument" and "unpopular opinions" to say heinous shit.
Tell me that you don't understand why the republicans won.
They didn't win because people agree with the neo-nazi adjacent right (which, I bet you're in denial about, but republicans always are), they won because the Democrats abandoned the working class and stupid people thought the Republicans would be better for them despite all empirical evidence.
You're right tho, disagreeing with dei programs doesn't make you a Nazi, it just makes you willing bedfellows with them.
Meta literally changed the rules specifically so you can call LGBTQ people mentally ill without repercussions.
Trying to convince anyone these changes are not far-right is just telling on yourself.
I can see why you don't charge for your opinions.
Ah yes because wanting to not be discriminated against and censoring hate speech is such a woke thing /s
but the reality is that the vast majority of people don’t agree with many of the views that are overrepresented on left-wing social media platforms like Lemmy
Is this true? Or is this just "people you know" and what the media you consume tells you?
If it is true then adding in the sources of where you got this information would really help your argument. Hell you may actually get more people to agree with you if you have solid evidence of what you said.
If this is just what "feels" right to you or if this is just something that other people told you is right then maybe look into that and see if reality lines up with what you are feeling and hearing.
Well they must know it is true, because this is their bio:
So I look forward to seeing their sources.
Like 95% of social media users, regardless of the platform, are mostly lurkers. A tiny fraction of the total user base creates the majority of the content. This is a self-selecting group of people who, by definition, don’t represent the average person - the average person doesn’t comment on message boards.
Reading discussions on Lemmy, for example, can create a skewed perspective of reality. Views like being okay with murdering CEOs are fairly popular here, yet I’ve never met anyone in real life who thinks this way. My work involves going into people’s homes to fix things, and we frequently chat about current events. I find that my average customer is far more reasonable in their views compared to the extreme opinions that often get highly upvoted here.
There’s also the broader observation that the left seems to struggle to win elections globally. We hear a lot about people moving toward the right, but rarely about anyone moving the other way. I’m not claiming this as absolute truth - it’s simply how I see things. Of course, there’s always a chance I could be wrong.
DEI is actually sound policy for corporations to consider especially on a managerial level or in creative roles. Having people with different perspectives can be a huge asset in business.
Musk is far-right because he’s praising the policy choices of far-right politicians. Trump et al are extremely far right as fascism is a far right ideology.
Glad i didn't pay for this opinion, lol 🙃
There are two main issues with the large commercial social media platforms. The first is that they do not allow for downvoting. The second is that they maximise engagement rather than quality of posts. The end result is that they consistently push controversial posts (i.e. misinformation).
Factchecking mitigates this but only to a tiny extent. The reason there is far less misinformation on platforms like Lemmy is that content is pushed on the basis of net votes (upvoted minus downvotes) and misinformation tends to be downvoted rapidly.
Fascism is going to win.
As people leave these platforms - permitting a welcome space for lies, hate speech, bigotry, and zealotry to flourish without consequence - history will recall, this was when the spark of fascism was given the last breathe of oxygen it required.
I don’t mean to excuse Meta for their unforgivable ElonTrump-influenced actions but running away is not going to win the fight you think you’re avoiding. That is, unless you all really commit and make it economically unfeasible for Meta to continue this policy.
Meta is successful because people can promote their small and local businesses. Because money can be made from ‘likes’. Because of the algorithm. Because people can get their news inline with their family photos. It’s everything. The fediverse has a long way to go to offer a seamless migration for users’ addiction to these platforms.
It's not like staying was such a success in the fight against fascism.
It maintained some semblance of a challenge. A mass exodus leaves a welcome vacuum for it to flourish.
Meta is successful because people can promote their small and local businesses. Because money can be made from ‘likes’. Because of the algorithm. Because people can get their news inline with their family photos. It’s everything.
Everyone who leaves Meta reduces the value of their advertising just a little bit. If lots of people leave, it will make the company less profitable.
Yes. That's exactly what I said.
Meta is successful because … of the algorithm. Because people can get their news inline with their family photos.
From what I’ve overheard, that’s exactly what everyone hates about Meta
And yet people still use what they hate.
The whole social media thing is just bizarre to me. I mean, I was an early adopter on everything from myspace to twitter to instagram. I joined and left these platforms before most people were using them. But then to companies figured out how to manipulate users by using algorithms to increase engagement and addiction - this is what solidified adoption. What I find difficult to digest is the vast number of people who are well aware of the problems around social media and still continue to use it as if they're addicted to crack.
There's nothing social about social media anymore. It's a platform for corporations and billionaires and dictators to host user generated content (AI content pending) for the purpose of extracting personal interests that help them sell ads and user data. It's first and foremost a manipulation platform. And it's free to use.
And now that people have had a taste of their drug of choice, they're stuck. Sure, some people will quit. But, until another just as enticing drug comes along, the majority will stick around and deal with ramifications of corporate controlled manipulation platforms. Where else are people going to get their news? Where are they going to share family trips? Where are they going to do this in a platform designed to maintain engagement and release the drips of dopamine they've become addicted to? If your response is Mastodon or Bluesky or Pixelfed, you're delusional.