Today I took a few baby steps. I switched my browser from Google Chrome, changed my default search engine to DuckDuckGo, unliked most pages on Facebook, removed a good chunk of my personal information from the site, created a protonmail account to test out for personal correspondence, and uninstalled Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter from my phone.
When I mused to my husband that I am having a difficult time deciding how much of my Facebook account to dismantle, and that I'm exploring options for a dumbphone, he asked skeptically whether I was "going dark."
The answer is no. Even if I wanted to leave "the grid" – and I don't – I couldn't.
I was raised with the internet, and I love it. I use it for fun and I use it for my work as a writer and editor at a local arts and entertainment magazine – there's another point: I couldn't do my job without using many of the services I want to cut back on personally. And tracking down and removing every trace of my web presence would be herculean, if it was a possible end.
What I take issue with is the massive power some companies have over the web, which they are now using to suppress information and opposition. I guess we – I – earned it. I gave Google and Facebook and YouTube my small part of their near-monopoly.
So I'm "going dim." I'm trying to decentralize my web presence and be more judicious with my personal information. My husband turned me on to Steemit. From what I've seen, it appears to offer a lot of what I'm looking for in a social network: genuine, thoughtful conversation and unfiltered opinion and information. Hopefully, it'll give me some of what Facebook doesn't, anymore.
I'm looking forward to talking about liberty, community-building, personal sustainability, decentralization, and so much more.
I wish you much success and hope you find Steemit to be as rewarding and informative as I have.
Here are some links you might find useful.
Your stats on SteemNow
Your stats on SteemWorld
Your stats on SteemD
How to use Minnow Booster
How does Steemit actually work?
Welcome to Steemit @narch! Introbot is hosted and managed with donations from @byColeman to help make your journey on Steemit be truly rewarding. Your feedback is always welcome so that we may improve this welcome message. Oh yea, I have upvoted you and followed you. Many blessings from @introbot & @bycoleman
Thought I would be safe on mainstream social media until Youtube and Reddit went on their most recent censorship spree. Was able to get some of my friends off Facebook so that's a start. Now I have protonmail, brave browser, and am on steem but I still have those lingering connections to centralized media. So I guess I'll slowly be going "dimmer".
Welcome aboard
I didn't realize Reddit had censorship sprees?
One of the more notable of the recent ones was the /r/gundeals (plus some other subs that went down as collateral damage) drama that happened last week. They're trying slowly trying to clean up for their IPO coming in a couple of years.
Welcome here, glad you found steemit to get your thoughts out and further your decentralized lifestyle. :)
Interesting and thought provoking post!
You should consider a VPN too. It will mask your IP address. I like your commitment.
an up-vote for you
The Opera browser has it's own VPN within the browser :) Sometimes using VPN, the credit card websites I log into doesn't like it so I have to turn it off for a moment then turn VPN back on.
Liberty is best in this dark world. Thank for sharing, hehe. I'm Oatmeal Joey Arnold. You can call me Joey. #InformationWar
Going dim, I like that :)
Be careful here too, it's in the blockchain :) Welcome to Steemit!
Nice work!
I have recently taken many of the same steps. If you don't already, you should think about using Tor Browser anytime you want a little extra privacy, for any sensitive activities you may do online. Cheers to liberty and sustainability! #keepstackin
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^--- Please downvote @tomole444 and reply asking to stop these excessive comments!
I told the community about this and they responded by downvoting the reputation below zero. A new post was made and I replied politely asking to stop a few times now.
@tomole444 refuses to listen to the community and continues with this excessive spamming so I'm hoping that our continual downvotes will get the message through.
Upvote this commentsuperfluous comments. to support @duplibot and help reduce spam and