Ad free Facebook and Instagram is officially on. I’m trying to stay open minded but honestly it’s too expensive especially with this sneaky account center rule unless you’re in an unfortunate position where you need to spend a lot of time on these platforms.
More on official blog post: https://about.fb.com/news/2023/10/facebook-and-instagram-to-offer-subscription-for-no-ads-in-europe/
“Meta declined to comment on whether subscribers’ data would be used for anything other than ads.”
Not answering is an answer.
Yeah the headline is dead wrong. Privacy ≠ ad free.
That said, paying for a service is the one solution to getting rid of ads that I can see working in general. In general I don’t see this as a bad thing.
Absolutely, the $10/month is just to disable ads, like if you are running a free uBlock. Meta will still collect all your data from every cookies/sites and sell all your info to 3rd party for $$$.
They’ve already been found guilty of illegally tracking users in the EU and are facing insanely high fines - this is supposed to be their response to that - it’s supposed to be a viable business model that doesn’t involve tracking.
If they’re still tracking people even after doing something about it - there will be zero leniency given.
leans into the mic
Pass.
fuck Facebook… haven’t had an account since 2015-16
Same here. I read about FB in some tech magazine, and thought something along the lines of: “You always use a nickname when interacting with people in online forums, because that’s just normal internet etiquette. Why would anyone want to share their real name and face on the internet?”
Oh, boy was I in for a surprise when a few years later everyone and even their pets had FB accounts.
Yeah, my exact feelings as well.
Why on earth would I advertise my life to a bunch of strangers.
Before FB, IRC was the thing with nicknames - all text based, as you mentioned.
Those were the days.
Just don’t use it - it’s not that hard.
Problem is they still track and profile you via websites using their libs and people sharing their contact list. I don’t believe they’d stop even for those paying accounts.
I definitely will agree with you there but why on earth would anyone pay these assholes to pretend that they would give you some privacy?
The irony is they mine us for our private data, track us, sell it, then have the gall to demand to charge us back for use of their services.
That’s why I get so pissed when this comes up or when adblocking on any other service rears its head (looking at you YouTube).
People are quick to forget that these services are following you everywhere you go. Looking through your contacts. Reading your mail. Delving into every nook and cranny of your private life and selling it all.
Instead of giving them a dime, invest in a VPN, a good Adblocker and other resources.
This is basically just hard greed.
They profit so well on your stolen data, and they won’t no where near need the money from this subscription.
That said, I’m glad they are doing it. Hopefully it will drive people to some other less money hungry alternative.
Facebook only has succes as long as enough people are using it. Otherwise I would rather contact people anywhere else.
