With Meta firing all their fact checkers and officially allowing hate speech against basically everyone on their platform, many business owners both ethical and otherwise are rethinking using their platforms, or at the very least considering how to best do that going forward.

Let’s talk about whether you should be leaving Meta.

Should you leave?

This is always going to be a personal decision. I know Queer people who have left the platforms never to return, and I know those who are refusing to leave because they will not give Zuck what he wants. Nobody can tell you what is right for you and your business, so instead I’m going to throw out some things to consider and you can run them past your own values and experiences.

Text reading "Flee to the Fediverse" beside a photo of Mark Zuckerberg on his side with a woolly mammoth walking over him.

You make Meta money.

Being on Meta’s platforms makes them money, there’s no getting away from that. You contribute to their stats of accounts or active accounts which they use to sell ads, whether you ever click an ad or not your presence is funding Zuck.

On the flip side, if you get a lot of business through Meta, or successfully organise direct action, community support or other positive things on their platforms, that might be worth it. If you’re not sure how much money you make through Meta or what the benefits to you and your communities are, check your stats, send out a survey, or just speak to your clients and ask how they found you. Data might be the devil but it’s also super helpful for making tough decisions like this.

Meta is more than one platform.

We’re not just talking about leaving Facebook. If you want to go no contact with Mark, that means Instagram and WhatsApp too – and for some people that doesn’t feel possible. There are some great alternatives to all Meta’s platforms available for free on the Fediverse, but that means learning a new platform or two and maybe you don’t have the brain space for that right now (although I have a Patreon that reduces the brain space requirements considerably).

Communities don’t move.

This isn’t entirely true but there is a real fear of losing contact with people you have on Meta platforms if you leave. And it’s true that you will probably lose contact with at least some of them either because they choose to stay, or they move somewhere that you don’t like and isn’t connected to other options.

I would point out that email is still a valid form of communication, as is SMS, or shudder phone calls. Depending on your connection with the person or people in question, maybe you can instead agree to email once a week, or meet up every quarter, or whatever makes sense for you. And of course, if you’re not really bothered enough about maintaining the connection to take that extra step, is it really that important a connection to you?

People know how Meta works.

Alongside communities, this is one of the main issues I see come up; either you and/or your friends don’t know how to work other platforms and it feels overwhelming to learn a whole new thing. And that is heckin’ valid! What I think is often unsaid in these conversations is “and if I can’t already work it then it’s not worth trying.” Many of you, I’m sure, have experienced this exact same thought process in the form of “if it’s not perfect, I shouldn’t put it out there,” and I’m willing to bet many of you are working really hard to push through that in creative and other areas!

Yes, it’s hard to learn a new platform. Yes, you’re not going to get the same response straight away as you do on a platform where you’re already established. But when you first started on Facebook or Instagram, you also didn’t know what you were doing and posted to crickets – but you kept showing up and trying new things and learned together with other business owners and friends, and now you rock!

Personally, I think it’s beautiful to start afresh sometimes and to figure stuff out with the people you care about – there is something really bonding about problem solving and laughing about the quirks of a new platform (or new problem) together.

But again – that’s my opinion, yours might be very different and that’s ok!

What are your options?

To be honest, there are too many to go into here, but alternatives do exist! The Fediverse has alternatives to all the major social media platforms, I explained that some in this blog post/video but here’s a few things you need to know:

If you opt for the Fediverse, it doesn’t matter if your friends choose Fedi-FB and you choose Fedi-IG because you can still see each other’s posts and talk to each other with no problem at all.

For communities (i.e. Facebook/WhatsApp groups) what matters is finding similar functionality and providing a quick tutorial. If your group offers value, people will put in a little work to watch a 5 minute video explainer and give the new platform a go. Matrix and Signal are both worth checking out, and I suspect you’re already considering Discord!

Before you switch, ask yourself what you want from social media and what you love (or just what benefits you get) about the platform you’re currently on. If you love the groups functionality of Facebook then look for groups focused alternatives, but if you want the visual pretties of Instagram then head over to Pixelfed. If you value easily discovering new people, that needs to be the main thing you consider when checking out the other options, but if you primarily care about having total control over your data and tonnes of privacy options, you’re going to make a very different choice.

Know what you actually want to use social media for because that will help you choose a new platform that you want to put the work into – don’t just follow the crowd.

So what do you want to do about Meta?

I’m choosing to divest from Meta as much as possible. I stopped using my Instagram account last year and changed my bio to alert people to the fact I’m not there and direct them to the Fediverse. I’m still on Facebook mainly due to a handful of groups and clients who have Facebook pages, but am aiming to get off there by the end of the year. I currently still use WhatsApp but am going to start luring my friends to Signal as soon as possible – I’m aware it’s probably going to be a long road!

But those are my decisions based on my business and my values, they might not work for you.

If you want to go more in depth about the alternatives to traditional social media, my Patreon is a pay what you can model starting at £1 per month and I chat about the Fediverse, emails, offline marketing, and strategy over there, along with running a monthly Q&A where you can ask me your questions and bounce ideas off someone to figure out how you feel about Meta, or anything else.

Whatever decision you make, happy socialing!

Alexis, a woman with light skin tone and pink hair, wearing sun glasses, a flannel shirt and dungarees, sits on the back of a rainbow bench with her legs wide, her arms leaning on her thighs.

Alexis Bushnell (she/her)

“You must always have faith in people. And, most important, you must always have faith in yourself.”
 
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