Hello!
This is the official Mastodon account for the site switching.social.
It's a guide for non-technical people who are concerned about protecting their privacy online. It only lists easy-to-use sites and apps that are ethical and privacy-friendly.
You can find out more at https://switching.social
If you know someone who might benefit from this guide, please share the link with them!
#Introductions #NewHere #DeleteFacebook #DeleteGoogle #ReplaceFacebook
Why no mention of Minds as an alternative to Facebook?
@switchingsocial @jackyan
here's one small example of why I think Minds should be considered: https://www.minds.com/blog/view/835056295992487936
Ethical Alternatives to WhatsApp, Messenger and Skype: I can't find Wire in the list. Any reason?
@samae Wire's business model is slightly unclear, they're a centralised system so it's really important to know where the money is coming from.
@samae I'll take a look.
@switchingsocial Excellent work! 👍
@switchingsocial Why no mention of Matrix as a messaging alternative? It is open and federated.
@switchingsocial @nickfarr Your site is really resourceful and useful, but the font is really really hard to read. Any chance that's going to change?
@switchingsocial
Welcome! Like the lightweight site. Alternative to Google Play store seems to be missing though :)
@Coffee You mean f-droid? F-droid.org currently seems aimed at technical users rather than non-technical ones?
@switchingsocial
I would like to think that F-Droid is aimed at anyone who likes their apps clean and free of tracking.
It is unfortunate that it is a bit more fiddly because Google disadvantages alternative app stores, but it's not *that* much harder. Non-technical people can and do use F-Droid. You might like to read https://f-droid.org/en/2017/07/03/cuba.html regarding that.
@Coffee It's awkward because the f-droid app is easier to use than the site, and people have to go through the site to find out about the app.
For example there aren't any categries on the site, but there are in the app.
switching.social is for people who aren't comfortable with terms like "repo" or "FOSS".
If someone *is* comfortable with those terms, then I'd recommend they go straight to Framasoft's guide which is much more comprehensive (but also more techy):
@switchingsocial
Thanks for the feedback. I've passed it on.
@switchingsocial
Wow! Gran trabajo.
Gracias por compartir.
Saludos.
@switchingsocial This is an awesome resource, thank you!
Should I take the lack of an Instagram alternative to mean that, as of now, there isn't any good ethical alternative?
Actually there is one just in testing, you can follow its progress at @pixelfed
The test PixelFed site opens for registrations daily: https://pixelfed.social
Once it's ready, it will be available for anyone to set up their own site, which will federate with each other and with Mastodon.
@switchingsocial @pixelfed Very cool, I was completely unaware! You're providing a valuable service, thank you!
Glad to help! 👍
@switchingsocial oooh nice
@switchingsocial
I like your site!
I think we need more sites like this, geared towards less technical users that show making privacy-conscious choices is neither impossible nor "too technical" for the average user.