This is the problem with using VPN services in general, you have to have complete trust in the service provider.

  • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    7 months ago

    I’m trying really hard to get my family to use something else for communication but they won’t. It’s a fucking drag.

    • gradyp@awful.systems
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      I feel you. I’ve spent the last couple years building up self hosted replacements for these enshittified services as they flop. But despite all the work I’ve put in, I can’t even get them to log off facebook to look at what I’ve got.

        • gradyp@awful.systems
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          edit-2
          7 months ago

          You make an excellent point, without use it’s mostly just there for nothing… but, specifically I build shit that they complain about. I have my personal photo site up with all my digital photos from the last 25 years catalogued and available from anywhere, I did this because they complained about not having them accessible. Hasn’t been logged into by anyone but me…

          But I don’t really blame them, I get it. The easy button is right there.

    • ian@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      7 months ago

      Marketplace is pretty useful. I hope a solid open-source alternative comes along.

      • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        What’s important here is not the source code, but whether the service collects unnecessary information.

        Craigslist does a pretty good job of respecting privacy.

        • ian@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          7 months ago

          I agree. However, I think that most people won’t use Craigslist simply because it doesn’t have a lot of the modern niceties, specifically modern messaging solutions. The email system they have is pretty painful to use.

          • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            7 months ago

            It’s easy enough to do messaging via text, or whatever other contact info you choose to give out. I like that I can use Craigslist without giving them much info about myself.

            If you’re suggesting that a messaging system built into the venue is critical for success, then I suppose all of us wanting privacy are out of luck for now… but perhaps Craigslist (or some other privacy-friendly venue) could make it happen by integrating Matrix.

            • ian@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              7 months ago

              I agree that most messaging services are problematic, but Facebook having Messenger is part of the moat that’s keeping FB users on Marketplace. I think offering any non-email messaging solution would be hugely beneficial. I like the Matrix idea quite a bit.

              • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                7 months ago

                Europe’s new Digital Markets Act might help in this department, too, through legally mandated interoperable messaging. Let’s hope it works out in our favor.

        • strawberry@kbin.run
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          7 months ago

          Craigslist also doesn’t have shit on it. try and buy a car on there. if you’re looking for a beater, sure. but a halfway decent sports car, fb marketplace is the only place

          its still OK for other stuff, I’ve bought tools and whatnot off Craigslist, but for vehicles fb is unfortunately still king

          • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            What you’re describing is the network effect in action, not a flaw in Craigslist.

            (It will be the same with every alternative you find, except perhaps one that’s well funded with outside money, which will be awful on the privacy front, of course.)

            The way we overcome a network effect is piece by piece:

            • First we switch to the privacy-friendly service for everything we can. That immediately reduces our exposure, reduces the power of the incumbent, and makes the alternative more useful by giving more users a reason to switch.
            • Then, over time, we switch for the remaining things as we find a suitable service for each one. (This might even be the same privacy-friendly alternative we started with, after it has grown a little.)

            If I felt I had to buy a sports car, and some awful invasive site like Facebook was somehow the only viable venue, I would buy just the car there. I wouldn’t make them the middle man for every other transaction in my life.

            • strawberry@kbin.run
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              7 months ago

              well yea its not Craigslist itself that’s the issue, its the fact that its a smaller platform. and yea I use eBay or Craigslist for everything but vehicles.its sad that Craigslist has been forgotten though.