3w ago

Google searches for deleting Facebook, Instagram explode after Meta ends fact-checking

techcrunch.com Google searches for deleting Facebook, Instagram explode after Meta ends fact-checking | TechCrunch

Google searches for how to cancel and delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts have seen explosive rises in the U.S. since Meta CEO Mark

Google searches for how to cancel and delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts have seen explosive rises in the U.S. since Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will end its third-party fact-checking system, loosen content moderation policies, and roll back previous limits to the amount of political content in user feeds.

Technology @lemmy.world

mesamune @lemmy.world

2w ago

Google searches for deleting Facebook, Instagram on the rise after Meta ends fact-checking | TechCrunch

techcrunch.com /2025/01/09/google-searches-for-deleting-facebook-instagram-explode-after-meta-ends-fact-checking/

1025 124

41 comments

As someone that deleted it 5 or so years back, after a while you won't miss Facebook anymore. And I used to be on that shit along with Reddit daily for hours on end. Now I don't use either and you'd be surprised how much better it is when you get used to it. Sure I'm on here a lot but it's not even close to how much time I wasted before.
- Everyone worries about the lack of content on lemmy, but I have 3 part time jobs and can't surf all day even though I would absolutely love to stay in the basement until I passed away from some preventable illness.

Zuckerberg wants you to delete all meta products and send him to jail it’s well known. Everyone’s saying it
- And more importantly, it's on the community note, so you know it's true.

I knew I wouldn't be the only one. Now I just have to hold off checking it for 30 days.
- That is straight up drug addict speak. I hope that you find someone that helps in that direction. Because seriously that is drug addict mentality, and I say that as an addict.
  Just keep walking away from it. The sky is still blue, the stars will still dance. And people will still wish you a happy birthday. I promise.
  
  That last one isn't true, but I agree with the rest
  
  Thanks for your concern, let me rassure you I can quit whenever I want to. No wait that all sound wrong. I was not a big user anyway went 2 or 3 times a week for maybe 30 minutes. It's been off my phone for a very longtime. The two main attraction were the short clips, but watch one with a pretty woman and that is all your get, very quickly and then turn creepy real fast. Disgusting me. Second attraction was my activist budy being smartass and commenting replying to morons in vain. Not only will he not fix anything, he doesn't seem to realize he's actually feeding the beast with smug. And that lost its appeal too.
  
  It's a dopamine thing (as with many drugs)
  
  I'll drink to that.
- Change your DNS on your router to one you can block FB with. Free ones like Opendns or adguard should do the trick. For mobile it's a bit more tricky since you can't just change your mobile DNS without a VPN but you could get one for that too.
  
  You can with Android.
  \
  \ Settings > Connections > More Connection Settings > Private DNS > Private DNS Hostname.
  \
  \ You will need the hostname though instead of just the IP address.
  
  You can change your DNS on iPhone at least. Settings > Wi-Fi > ℹ️ > Configure DNS > Manual
  Add these servers: 94.140.14.14 94.140.15.15
- That was when the spell broke for me, too. Both times, actually. I got off of it in 2018 or so, and it took about 30 days. Then I had a relapse, and just cut it off on election day. I stopped trying to return to it in early December.

Welcome to the club y'all. What took you so long?
- I nuked my account after Cambridge Analytica.
  I assumed this would be the obvious, en masse response to learning, definitively, that FB is absolutely using its algorithms and data to intentionally manipulate society in general.
  Nope!
  A decade ish later and here we are, society ripping itself apart with neuroses and hatred, apparently just apparently not realizing that the algorithm optimizes toward outrage, that this makes everyone emotionally unstable and believe insane mis and disinfo.
  Great work Zuck! Speedrun of destroying the underlying social fabric that allows a functioning democracy to be possible.
  Onward to oblivion.
- 2015 for me.
- Momentum and unwillingness to sacrifice I guess? I do lose out on connecting with people who aren't anywhere else (generally not an issue for people that are important to me), potential fb marketplace deals, etc.

I will eat my hat if this results in any sort of meaningful impact for Meta.
- It won't, but each person leaving Meta platforms is still a win.

20 years too late

Do you really need to search for that?
- Yeah, Meta doesn't exactly make it an easy clear-cut process. To this day my account is probably still only "deactivated" but since I don't trust them to delete my data anyway I haven't bothered going back to confirm and "delete". And I don't suppose the process has gotten simpler since then.
  
  They already have all the data you've already given them. Just stop going there.
- my thoughts too. I often feel dumb but then I remember just how dumb the average person is...

Grandma and grandpa won't care. They have all their pictures there and won't be changing services. They probably like the lies to.
Facebook will zombie onwards. Perhaps they will purchase yet another competitor some day, but other then that don't expect anything but a slow swirl down the toilet bowl as the elderly pass away.
RIP to my grandparents, even if they probably would disapprove of everything about me.

Oh wow, there are people on FB who still care about facts? I'm shocked.

ends fact checking
Uh, come again?
Meta CEO noted that his platforms would replace third-party fact-checkers with a community notes system akin to X’s, in which users can flag posts they think need more context.
Umm, OK. What happens after you flag a post?

Zuckyboy fearing the big Don

Zucc looks like shit he needs some water or something
- Any liquid will do as long as it covers the mouth and nostrils

Come to Lemmmmy...
- Lemmy isn't really a natural stand in for any of the three services. Fediverse is but I don't expect many to come here directly.
  
  What's the federated fb alt, then?

I overheard a woman say "I saw a picture on the face book" and I realised it's hers now, if she wants to call it that then that's its name.

41 comments