Instagram

[selectedgrub]

Anyone doing instagram?
I fell into it about a year back not a real fan but like Fentanyl all the new kids were doing it so I put on a wool coat and became a sheep
https://www.instagram.com/selectedgrub

[J. Wilhelm]

Paywall springs up after a few moments on the profile page...

[selectedgrub]

It was free when I signed up

[Artorius Kane]

I'm on there.  Same name but mainly music/guitar-related posts and follows.

Perhaps I should create a separate account for Steampunk.

[chironex]

My account is called "necromotive".

[Justin Time]

I more recently started an Instagram account but it struck me as annoying to use and buggy as heck.

I'm told it was likely because I use a PC and not a smartphone, but even if I had a smartphone their app cannot be uninstalled once installed, just disabled; so sod that nonsense.

I have not had my account for long and had just finished uploading pics of my work when they decided yesterday that I was 'possibly violating terms' or something and suspended my account.  It isn't recoverable since they don't have my mobile # (and it would never allow me to add one).

I did like the ability to send & receive things to "followers", but, frankly, I cannot understand why anyone would want to spend so much time endlessly scrolling through mountains of junk to find a gem.

JIT

[SeVeNeVeS]

I more recently started an Instagram account but it struck me as annoying to use and buggy as heck.

I'm told it was likely because I use a PC and not a smartphone, but even if I had a smartphone their app cannot be uninstalled once installed, just disabled; so sod that nonsense.

I have not had my account for long and had just finished uploading pics of my work when they decided yesterday that I was 'possibly violating terms' or something and suspended my account.  It isn't recoverable since they don't have my mobile # (and it would never allow me to add one).

I did like the ability to send & receive things to "followers", but, frankly, I cannot understand why anyone would want to spend so much time endlessly scrolling through mountains of junk to find a gem.

JIT

Do NOT do FARCEBOOK, I have a similar experience, I want to sell and buy stuff on marketplace (mainly sell and grab free stuff) so installed messenger on my mobile, next thing facebook appeared and I can't delete it just disable it. It is constantly pinging me with freind suggestions and b"llsh!t that I really and truely am not interested in.
Disable Farcebook and messenger stops working so I can't know if anyone is trying to buy. I wish I had never ever done it now.
Feel for a fellow old ludite who frankly hates multi corp tech.

[Justin Time]

Do NOT do FARCEBOOK, I have a similar experience, I want to sell and buy stuff on marketplace (mainly sell and grab free stuff) so installed messenger on my mobile, next thing facebook appeared and I can't delete it just disable it. It is constantly pinging me with freind suggestions and b"llsh!t that I really and truely am not interested in.
Disable Farcebook and messenger stops working so I can't know if anyone is trying to buy. I wish I had never ever done it now.
Feel for a fellow old ludite who frankly hates multi corp tech.

Preach it, brother! Got my pitchfork right here!

I have no plans to ever do Facebook. That's another endless scrolling thing I don't get. If I wanted to endlessly scroll to find something interesting/relevant I'd still be on GeNie 

I only did Instastress because on old friend found me and asked me to connect there and I thought it might be a good way to promote some of my work. I'll just stick with my website and my Deviantart page for the foreseeable future.

Tech is too intrusive now and I, frankly, don't get the addiction people have to things like Facebook and TikTok.  I have fallen down the wiki rabbit hole when doing research for projects, but just filling the day with scrolling for "funny" videos and moronic "challenges" bewilders me.

As an experiment I just tried to enroll on Instagram (with an alternate email) and just clicking "enroll" returned the message:

New accounts can only be created on phones. To create an account, open the Instagram app on a phone. If you have an existing account, you can log in.

I suspected the suspension (and now apparent deletion) of my account was purely because I use a PC, and as far as I'm concerned, this confirms it was all bovine excrement to try to force me to install their (cr)app on my (non-existent) smart phone.

Now, PLEASE, immediately remove yourself from my carefully manicured grassy area 

JIT

[J. Wilhelm]

Do NOT do FARCEBOOK, I have a similar experience, I want to sell and buy stuff on marketplace (mainly sell and grab free stuff) so installed messenger on my mobile, next thing facebook appeared and I can't delete it just disable it. It is constantly pinging me with freind suggestions and b"llsh!t that I really and truely am not interested in.
Disable Farcebook and messenger stops working so I can't know if anyone is trying to buy. I wish I had never ever done it now.
Feel for a fellow old ludite who frankly hates multi corp tech.

Preach it, brother! Got my pitchfork right here!

I have no plans to ever do Facebook. That's another endless scrolling thing I don't get. If I wanted to endlessly scroll to find something interesting/relevant I'd still be on GeNie 

I only did Instastress because on old friend found me and asked me to connect there and I thought it might be a good way to promote some of my work. I'll just stick with my website and my Deviantart page for the foreseeable future.

Tech is too intrusive now and I, frankly, don't get the addiction people have to things like Facebook and TikTok.  I have fallen down the wiki rabbit hole when doing research for projects, but just filling the day with scrolling for "funny" videos and moronic "challenges" bewilders me.

As an experiment I just tried to enroll on Instagram (with an alternate email) and just clicking "enroll" returned the message:

New accounts can only be created on phones. To create an account, open the Instagram app on a phone. If you have an existing account, you can log in.

I suspected the suspension (and now apparent deletion) of my account was purely because I use a PC, and as far as I'm concerned, this confirms it was all bovine excrement to try to force me to install their (cr)app on my (non-existent) smart phone.

Now, PLEASE, immediately remove yourself from my carefully manicured grassy area 

JIT

Wot? You mean you'all aren't going to join the newfangled Facebook Meta "Threads" Twitter look-alike?  It's all connected you know? 

And what about Twitter X?  Don't you wish to join a political dumpster fire, ruled by the nutjob visionary Elon Musk?  All normal corporate and government ads. foreign and domestic, have been suspended, for both moral and legal reasons, and about half of all ads are political advertising. The other half are the kind of "five and dime" Chinese products that you wouldn't even consider buying. No sane corporate PR department would advertise there any longer... (unless you want a lawsuit or be attacked by political extremists).

[Justin Time]

Wot? You mean you'all aren't going to join the newfangled Facebook Meta "Threads" Twitter look-alike?  It's all connected you know? 

I looked at around at Facebook a few times and came to the conclusion that I'd rather cut my head open with a bone saw and pour acid directly onto my own brain than sign up for it.

And what about Twitter X?  Don't you wish to join a political dumpster fire, ruled by the nutjob visionary Elon Musk?

In general, I'm not a big Kool-aid drinker and don't understand the Cult of the Muskrat at all.

So no MyFace, Twaddle or NitWit for me!  I'll stay mostly anti-social

JIT

[SeVeNeVeS]

Although I still absolutely HATE having this Facesh!t installed on my phone with no way of deleting the curse.............

It's annoying with all the pings about b"ll"ckS, BUT selling stuff on Marketplace reaches a much wider audience than Gumtree, it may take a few weeks but everything has gone eventually. SO, I'm calling it a necessary evil, which I can reluctantly "put up with"............. SHUDDERS.....Who would have thought?

Still struggling with the amount of info gradually gleaned from my PC and phone, but I also have a google and Microsnot account so nothing is secret anymore where my surfing habits are concerned...... Big Brother is watching and all that.

I do use a VPN where I can and have Tor but I'm not convinced of true privacy.

[J. Wilhelm]

I would also warn people to get off Whatsapp, I don't care how popular it Is with the younger crowd or people who don't use Skype.


The problem with WhatsApp is that it's chock-full of Nigerian and Chinese scammers and SPAM. It's by far the least safe and least private platform according to some experts.

I only signed up because I had to communicate with my uncle when my mother was dying early this year and he was trying to move to another country (absolute fail, BTW, but that's gossip for another day). He's the only person I know on WhatsApp and every day I have to block at least 3 or 4 calls.

[SeVeNeVeS]

Never had a problem with WhatsApp.

Because my family is scattered around the world I find it handy, never ever had any Spam or bogus calls.

Will do a search on safety concerns tho'

Edit.... I'm done with farcebook, will only activate it when I got something on sale, purely for messenger....... It does my head in.

[Artorius Kane]

I've not noticed any spamming on Whatsapp.

[J. Wilhelm]

I've not noticed any spamming on Whatsapp.

Never had a problem with WhatsApp.

Because my family is scattered around the world I find it handy, never ever had any Spam or bogus calls.

Will do a search on safety concerns tho'

Edit.... I'm done with farcebook, will only activate it when I got something on sale, purely for messenger....... It does my head in.

Then I wonder what I'm doing wrong, because I've only used it a couple of times since April, but I have about 9 phone numbers with texts and messages trying to sell me something from Indonesia,China and other exotic locations. They tend to be manufacturers selling wholesale.  I've blocked and reported all.

[SeVeNeVeS]

Are you sure it's a legit version?

I've asked my family and no one has issues with it.

Maybe uninstall it then install a version from google apps...... dunno to honest.

[J. Wilhelm]

Are you sure it's a legit version?

I've asked my family and no one has issues with it.

Maybe uninstall it then install a version from google apps...... dunno to honest.

As legit as the Google Play Store can give me...  The only thing I can think of is that somehow EU regulations do affect operations in the UK.  You have to remember that I live in the Americas.

[SeVeNeVeS]

I got nieces in NY CA and my brother lives around the corner from you so it's not a country thing.

[J. Wilhelm]

I got nieces in NY CA and my brother lives around the corner from you so it's not a country thing.

I don't know.  But I have no other source for the app.  It comes from the official Google Play Store and I've installed it twice with the same results.  There's no magic going on with my phone. There's nothing special about it and all the questionable messages come exclusively through WhatsApp, not Skype nor my cellular service.

Anyhow, all the spam comes from Asia or Africa anyway, and it's advertising from some manufacturing outfit, with product pictures, company descriptions and phone contacts, etc. I don't get any messages or calls from Europe at all. You can block and report the numbers but new ones keep popping up every single week.

Other than that, every once in a blue moon I'll get a wrong voice call on Skype, and mostly random wrong calls on cellular coming from the US, but that's not advertising. It's just wrong calls or physhing attempts/ robocalls which I always got without WhatsApp installed.

I'm going to dump it, because the only purpose of having it was to talk to my uncle when he went to Costa Rica.