I've just sent my first SMS after like 3 years. (christmas 2017)
My phone plan has some of them included, so I even don't have to pay additional money.
Yes, SMS are not encrypted, so a good reason not to send too much of them.
I also deleted my Twitter account. It's a big rabbit hole, especially being outraged about idiots.
I downloaded my account data. I can see a "personalization" list with topics Twitter thinks I like / will buy.
90% of this list is just plain wrong:
- some cryptocurrencies (total waste of energy)
- big company stocks (just no!)
- rubbish, fancy food (I am a healthy, but simple person)
I also had a look into the "Ad Engagements" list. I just had to laugh out loud. I hope none of these companies ever paid money to show me these ads. One company bought 37% of all my ad space. I don't know this company and I don't do anything in the field they work in.
Sure, maybe I'm an outlier (or I'm too confident I won't ever buy this stuff), and this works even without me. But in a perfect world, we don't have to bear this manipulating ads game.
But instead of being outraged and doing nothing, I will save my energy and will invest it into making the world a better place.
As I said yesterday, being intentional is very important.
That's why I created a Friendica account some weeks ago.
Why? Because it's a social network like Facebook, but it has one killer feature: You can subscribe to other platforms. So I am subscribed to accounts on YouTube, Twitter, Mastodon etc.
These platforms don't get my behavioral data, so they can't sell my attention.