eXeler0n

Alternatives for privacy

Translations: de

The Internet is currently dominated by a few companies. Google, Facebook, Twitter and what they are all called. The central bundling of our data could become a problem in the long run. Are there alternatives to the well-known sites and tools? What are the disadvantages?

Twitter → Mastodon

Twitter, actually the last social media platform on which I am also active. I either don't visit the others anymore or I'm just reading. This is partly because Twitter still relies on text, but also because the tweets are usually short but with a lot of content.

An alternative to this is Mastodon. The name takes some getting used to. You don't tweet anymore, you toot or toot. Everything a little more special. But actually identically, only decentralized, structured.

Advantage: The data does not belong to a company, but at most to your instance.
Disadvantage: If your instance is suddenly gone, then your toots/media/content are gone.

wordpress.com/blogger/media → self-hosting.

At the time when I got to know the Internet (around 1999 onwards) there were no hosting sites like Wordpress.com, Blogger or Medium. On the contrary, one had rented at that time still for quite a lot of money a Web space (or professionals server) and had built up there its homepage. There were already first CMS systems, but still everything was a bit more complicated.

But even if you host yourself today, life has become much easier. Many providers already offer the automatic installation of WordPress and thanks to themes and plugins you have countless possibilities. And just as many sources of error that are easier to overlook.

Facebook → Diaspora*

Diaspora* is a free alternative to Facebook and Co. Unfortunately, the project is older, but also more sluggish than Mastodon and is not much fun. However, it must be said that for me this is also due to the concept. Facebook is no fun either. Currently I can not log in and do not miss it.

WhatsApp → Threema / Matrix

WhatsApp, the main platform when you want to send private messages to each other. After ICQ was replaced by Skype, both were overrun by WhatsApp. And WhatsApp was then bought by Facebook.

As an alternative with low distribution but similar operation, but completely encrypted, Threema from Switzerland entered the market. However, since it usually costs two euros, it is not very widespread.

If you prefer a decentralized approach and do not want to rely on a single operator, you can take a look at Matrix. Private distribution is still quite low, although the French government is currently switching to Matrix and the German government is also considering Matrix as a communications solution.

Gmail/Calendar/...

Google services](https://google.de) permeate the entire Internet and in some cases there is no real alternative. YouTube is simply the biggest platform for videos. Dailymotion, Vimeo and Co have the same problems. Decentralized services are few, the convenience then also falls by the wayside.

But email, calendar and cloud can be replaced. Email and calendar can be self-hosted as in the past. A data cloud can be expensive. Depending on the connection, a NAS can help.

And what is missing?

In recent years, Mumble has emerged as an open alternative to Teamspeak. But both were quickly superseded by Discord - a combination of text and voice chat. Discord is completely free and allows anyone to create their own server. It also has a good API for bots.

But I can't see how Discord is financed. So far I only see the sale of the data as a source of income.

Where can you find me?

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/eXeler0n Mastodon: @eXeler0n@troet.cafe Matrix: @exeler0n:matrix.dapor.net Diaspora*: exeler0n@pod.dapor.net

Keep it fluffy!

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