Come on, I would lose contact with most of my friends if facebook is banned in Europe. Let's stop being obtuse and ignore the fact that there are actual users of the product.
And if you were told it would be banned next month, you'd all find another way to contact each other. You'd congregate around something in much the same way you did around WhatsApp and Facebook, way back when.
It would be inconvenient for many people to migrate but let's stop being obtuse and ignore the fact that there are alternatives that comply with local laws.
There's a real risk for communities, though. A group of communities currently on Facebook may see their members flee to several independent alternatives, which will kill any cross-group participation. That stuff has the ability to break communities which may never grow back in the same form.
I'd much rather see Facebook and Whatsapp follow the law than see the general population get an even worse feeling about data privacy laws. Banning these platforms plays right into the books of the tech giants.
On potential societal damage, we already risk so much by being beholden to a few private companies rather than a protocol. Meta could turn off Facebook or major features overnight without warning. Governments should do everything they can to encourage diversity of providers.
Honest question, do you consider these people actual friends or internet acquaintances.
One thing I hate social media for is keeping me hyper connected to thousadns of people, it actually takes up a lot of time. I'm not saying I'm not grateful for having thousands of new friends, but I can also see that the people in front of me get less attention because of it.
It feels like a bit of a hidden cost of social media often unaccounted for.
I do wonder am I saving time because it's now enough to just message someone for their birthday rather than go see them; However I'm now messaging tens if not hundreds more people for their birthday then before.
I disagree. Just having FB in your public CV makes you an interested party already. Given you were sec lead at a FB project it is even conceivable you hold FB stock, which would make you a very interested party.
I advise you to add a COI statement if you make future posts/comments about Facebook/meta/Zuckerberg. It is just good practice.
