This was going to be the logical next step after, well, leaving Facebook.
This summer, I made the decision to just…quit Facebook. It had become an ad-riddled ghost town, where everything I posted pretty much got algorithmically blackholed and no one ever saw it. Worse yet, the only things I ever saw in my news feed were suggested posts, suggested groups, or ads. Never anything from friends.
I stopped posting for a bit, then finally in June, I decided I no longer needed Facebook. I deleted the app from my phone, kept only Messenger, and thus far I haven’t regretted it. Most of my social interaction comes from Mastodon and Discord, and both do a fine job of scratching that social itch.
Instagram’s been edging close to being the next step in this journey, and I think that time is fast approaching. Meta hasn’t hidden just how much they think AI is going to save us, and also haven’t hidden that they want to use our publicly available data as training for their AI and use of their services is to accept this fact. That was enough to keep my activity to a minimum, but then Zuck had to open his mouth and now I’m debating just pulling the plug entirely and walking out.
At the end of the day, I’m small potatoes. I know that Meta’s AI likely finds nothing of value in the stuff I post. But it’s the principle of the situation, and the fact that Meta won’t let you opt out of having your data used unless you can prove to them that their AI plagiarized your work specifically. Essentially, you can’t opt out unless Meta’s AI deems you important enough to use your data. (Though apparently if you’re in the US they won’t let you opt out at all.)
That one-two punch of AI bullshit just seriously puts me off. The AI bros not understanding the concept of consent also just makes me see red. “Oh, no, prove to me how I’m harming you, and maybe then I’ll let you opt out of me harming you.”
As such, I think it’s time I begin looking at leaving Instagram. I know it’s probably too late, having been deep into it since before Meta got their grubby hands on it. But given that Instagram is suffering from the very same issue as Facebook where my friends are posting nothing and most of my feed is ads and suggestions, it feels like the time is right to just move entirely to Flickr and hope that enough people follow me over.
I’ll still be around, rarely. But new content is going to be on my flickr.
I wish it never came down to this, but I’m also tired of techbro assholes just throwing consent out the window in the name of profits and control. I do not consent to AI training on my work.