**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 14:00

**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 14:00

switching.social @switchingsocial

#Amazon treats its warehouse workers badly, pays very little tax and tracks its users. Its #Kindle platform will delete books that people have already bought.

Here are some updated ethical alternatives to #AmazonBooks, Kindle and #GoodReads:

https://switching.social/ethical-alternatives-to-amazon-and-goodreads/

Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions for alternatives, if you have any more suggestions (or feedback on these alternatives) please reply to this post.

#Kindle #Goodreads #Privacy #DeleteAmazon #DeleteKindle #DRM #eBooks #Books

**ninjafoss** @ninjafoss@ieji.de · Jun 10, 2018, 14:20

**ninjafoss** @ninjafoss@ieji.de · Jun 10, 2018, 14:20

@switchingsocial how about adding riot.im (matrix.org) as a whatsapp, messenger and skype alternative?

**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 16:04

**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 16:04

@ninjafoss

A lot of people have suggested riot.im, it seems to be a very popular platform!

However, it still seems quite oriented towards technical users?

**An(arch)druid Wraidd** @wraidd@druid.town · Jun 10, 2018, 16:09

**An(arch)druid Wraidd** @wraidd@druid.town · Jun 10, 2018, 16:09

@switchingsocial @ninjafoss Might be because I'm a technical person but I'm genuinely surprised by that reaction. Doesn't seem to me any more technically demanding from an end-user perspective than any other chat client -- sign up, add your friends, start chatting.

It's very full-featured, yes, but as a replacement for AIM or FB chat or Skype it seems to me to be on the same level learning curve-wise.

**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 16:22

**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 16:22

@wraidd @ninjafoss

This is of course a matter of personal taste, but the riot.im site strongly implies people should click on "launch now", then they are taken to a slightly confusing screen.

It's unclear what the user is meant to do next, or even what the screen is for. The biggest icon encourages users to click on the directory, but this is just a list of technical topics.

I guess this isn't a problem with the software itself, but its presentation?

**An(arch)druid Wraidd** @wraidd@druid.town · Jun 10, 2018, 16:25

**An(arch)druid Wraidd** @wraidd@druid.town · Jun 10, 2018, 16:25

@switchingsocial @ninjafoss mm okay, I see where you're coming from.

On the other hand, the "Login" and "Register" buttons aren't exactly hidden, and the "press x to start a chat with someone" is right below that, so like. yeah, it's not front and center but it's still right there.

(I love matrix conceptually so I might be a teensy bit defensive, sorry X) )

**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 16:31

**switching.social** @switchingsocial · Jun 10, 2018, 16:31

@wraidd

Hey, no offence taken, I guess we are talking about two different things anyway (me the site, you the actual software).

I'm trying to be careful to only present options on switching.social that non-technical people can easily get a handle on.

Part of the reason FB Messenger, Whatsapp etc are popular is that they are so familiar. People can easily default back to a familiar app if the alternatives look too complicated 😕

**An(arch)druid Wraidd** @wraidd@druid.town · Jun 10, 2018, 16:33

**An(arch)druid Wraidd** @wraidd@druid.town · Jun 10, 2018, 16:33

@switchingsocial Yep, I identified that particular bugbear as well.

Of course, at this point it's a question of known vs unknown -- Facebook is always going to be more "usable" than a new service because people already know how to use it. And all their friends are already there, etc.

Infuriating.