Friends don't let friends use Meta AI app
this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2026
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People should stop using Facebook products.
Without whatsapp I would essentially be losing contact with my family and a ton of friends and colleagues. And some businesses even use it. Do I want to, no. Have I got some people on signal, yes. But there simply isnt a way for me to cut it out of my life unfortunately.
I ripped the bandaid off when Facebook bought WhatsApp. I told all my contacts and the ones I actually talked to were willing to install Signal, even my grandparents.
Same. I quit whatsapp the day after facebook bought it. Switched to signal and never looked back. The few people I talked with on whatsapp moved too.
I tried but failed, people are so reliant on it that I couldn't interest people enough and gradually even some people who moved over, drifted back.
Yeah it's not easy to get people to care, and even harder to get them to move from something they're familiar with.
The main motivation for me was getting off WhatsApp, so anyone who refused to get Signal just has to deal with SMS now.
I stopped. Anyone who wanted to keep in touch with me was given other methods of doing that. Anyone else who couldn't be bothered to spend 20 extra seconds? Not worth having in my life.
Happy that worked for you but doing so would have cut a huge social part of my life away, its more than just 1:1 messaging stuff.
Can't they send a ordinary text message to your phone number?
They can but that instantly excludes me from casual day to day things like my family group chat or more spur of the moment messaging - plans here heavily favour data these days over texts - honestly the only texts i get these days are automated services. I just have no desire to be so isolated from friends and family
If they won't use signal or similar then they're kind of shitty, but sometimes with friends and family that's how it is.
It is pretty embarrassing to use Facebook in this day and age. My daughter is a teenager and doesn't even have an account, says Facebook "is for old people".
I am in my 50s and have never had a facebook account. I never will - but honestly I have been tempted to recently because apparently Craigslist is all scammers now and Facebook Marketplace is the go-to for local used buy/sell.
If I could make a “marketplace only” account I would because I like to buy/sell used. But I can’t so oh well.
Marketplace is very alive and kicking, it's shocking how much more active it is since COVID.
I will also say that FB has sucked a lot of attention away from traditional forum spaces - Australia's Netrider for example. It's much better to seek answers and ask questions in the motorcycle Facebook page for your model. Sadly. The introduction of anonymous group posting is a good thing though.
Nextdoor also works for buying and selling junk, but it's basically as terrible as Facebook at this point. Nearly every post is full up with brunchlords and Karens.
You can make an account without using your real details. Just stick to the browser and don't use their app.
I have tried multiple times. I get flagged for identification every time. And the identification fails. Even if I try to video my face. I guess they don't want me there.
Wow that's crazy! I literally covered my head with a towel and stuck some sunglasses over it and they approved my verification
Unfortunately, my generation got on there and they will never fucking leave. It's like the previous generation with AOL.
I refer to it as "Boomer Social" as it is the exclusive form of communication for family members over 60. When I purged my Meta accounts, finally, I completely lost contact with my sister.
Seems that old people who were around for email being the norm can't manage to use it anymore...
For some reason its very popular in Asia, according to my partner who is Thai and 23 years old. But then they don't really use anything else (well, tiktok and Line, but rarely Insta or twitter). I guess facebook is just decent for all kinds of media, be it text, images, videos or links
For some reason its very popular in Asia, according to my partner who is Thai and 23 years old.
Facebook subsidized mobile internet access specifically to facebook properties for a decade or so in many parts of the world. If you went to Google.com you'd get charged for mobile data. if you went to any Facebook company sites, it was free data. This is also why Whatapp is so embedded in many parts of the world. Text messages were charged, while Whatapp messages were free.
All 3 people that both use Meta AI and also have friends are mortified.
You're fooling yourself if you think Lemmy/mbin content isn't getting scraped and thrown into LLMs. There's nothing stopping it and they're not huge on consent.
Why on earth do you want to make these things social instead of private? If things are social like that, it just makes me cautious of my clicks online.
Oh, I can’t like that video, what would my friends think of me? Oh, I can’t install this app, because of stupid reasons. If I want to install all the wrong apps and like all the wrong videos, peer pressure shouldn’t stand in my way. What’s wrong with Meta.
...
It's not embarrassing to still be using any Meta product?
It's like being worried because you recognized the guy in front of you at the checkout line at the dildo emporium as your priest...
It would be awkward if he turns around, but he's got a shopping cart of dildos too, how is he gonna judge?
It's not embarrassing to still be using any Meta product?
I mean, they're some of the most used tech products in the world, so they clearly do have people that like using them. The only sites/apps that are used more are Google and YouTube.
I guess it's like Nestlé. There's some people that avoid their products and might be embarrassed to use them, but that doesn't change the fact that they're still the largest food company in the world, and the vast majority of customers like their products and aren't embarrassed to consume them.
I was just imagining that situation and thought to myself that if only people were both cool and smooth enough to make casual unjudgemental conversation with the preacherman in the checkout line in that moment..
What a world we could live in, if only everyone could stop being shitty to one another.
In that situation, I kinda have to say the priest is the architect of their own awkward judgement. They would be labeled a hypocrite because they aren't practicing what they preach. If I'm in Willie Jane's Dildo Emporium and I see my buddy Steve, I'm just gonna be like, "Bro, what'd you get? I'm tired of the Ass-assin 2000, and I was thinking of going to the Hole Shebang Turbo EX Plus Alpha. Any thoughts?"
The world would be a lot more fun without the clergy.
I like their christ, less the christians.
In order to find out, they'd have to also be using Meta, which is embarrassing enough in itself so they shouldn't be talking.
Jokes on you! My friends found out much more embarrassing stuff about me
If your friends are embarrassed by the apps you choose to use, maybe it's time to find better friends