this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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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/

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[–] [email protected] 173 points 1 year ago (2 children)

“Meta declined to comment on whether subscribers’ data would be used for anything other than ads.”

Not answering is an answer.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] Magister 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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 $$$.

[–] abhibeckert 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

There's so little doubt that they're still using and selling user data no matter what they claim.

[–] dinckelman 41 points 1 year ago

leans into the mic

Pass.

[–] funker 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

fuck Facebook… haven’t had an account since 2015-16

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I never had a facebook account.

Swear to God.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] Erasmus 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just don’t use it - it’s not that hard.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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.

[–] Erasmus 9 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Firefox Facebook fence ftw!

[–] superduperenigma 1 points 1 year ago

Paying only stops them from showing ads, which can also be solved by not using the platform. Paying does absolutely nothing to stop them from collecting and sharing data about you.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Hopefully large social networks have not metastasized enough to prevent their death with this. I hope that they also decide to bully through this bullshit onto WhatsApp, which is heavily used throughout the EU, thus ensuring their death is even quicker. They've tried to copy Google Premium, but Google gives you the option to disable personalized data collections and ad serving.

[–] expatriado 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

now i know how much my data is worth

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Who said anything about your data not being tracked and sold still?

That’s the approximate price meta gets paid just for serving the ad. I would imagine your data is worth much more than that.

[–] drmoose 3 points 1 year ago

Exactly that's just the ad price for the data. Analytics, internal use and whatnot is a whole different thing.

[–] OGC 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Can’t we just use ad-blocks to make it as-free? 😂

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If your dumb enough to pay, you wouldn't understand navigating off the page to install a blocker in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ve not used FB or any other in over ten years but calling people that do dumb is a little silly no?

Most people don’t care. We are in the minority of people that do care, but we are not representative of the world.

[–] superduperenigma 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He's calling people who give 10 dollars a month to Facebook dumb, not people who use it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My point stands, if people don’t want to see ads then it’s worth it no?

Do I drink alcohol no as I don’t get it, you pay money and feel ill. Do I think people that do are dumb, no. People can spend their money on whatever they like.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

loooooooooooool

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Everyone should be using the Facebook addon "Facebook Purity" if they are still using the platform. I've been using it for over a decade and I can't stand using Facebook without it…

Not only does it work better than most adblocks, but you can completely move, remove, and restyle features.

It's the only way of working with that platform is not harmful to one's sanity.

[–] raltoid 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The only people using Facebook these days either don't know what addons/extentions are, or they are forced to use it through work/business.

[–] OpenHammer6677 2 points 1 year ago

Or Southeast Asians. Facebook here is like a mini internet