Social media and me

The lack of transparency and choice of how my data is being processed by large social media platforms that I used to use has troubled me for a long time.

When I was using some Latvian social media site, now two decades ago, while connected via GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and browsing this site using WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) on my cool Siemens m55. Back then, everything was new, and social media was about connecting to people and not generating revenue. But most importantly, we had a choice. To upload photos, I had to spend some money to increase my gallery capacity. Spending money to get access to upload more photos was a great way to support the site. Sadly, Facebook, Twitter and other social media (or microblogging) platforms don’t provide many choices. It’s implicit that your data will be harvested and monetised without your choice.

I deleted my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts last year. Honestly, I feel more comfortable because of this decision.