Mastodawn

First Meta said pay or consent, and now they've taken it to a whole new level: If you want a less personalized ad experience they will force you to watch ads with 'Ad Breaks'... Could it get any worse?!

On the other hand, the annoying ad breaks could be the solution to stop the endless scrolling?! At least that's how one Redditor is interpreting the change. 😅

When did you decide to leave #META and which alternatives are you using?

Time for alternatives: https://tuta.com/blog/instagram-alternative

Ciela-An Orca Ally 1d ago

@Tutanota Unlike Tuta, the embodiment of the cool, Meta is extremely cringe, and people should stay away from the cringe.

Kev Peirce 🇦🇺1d ago

@Tutanota I left #META 6 months ago when they wanted me to upload a video selfie to prove I was over 16. (I'm over 60).

For alternatives, I'm using Mastodon, Pixelfed and Bluesky (Probably not much longer).

The Fediverse is way more cool. 😀

That_Damn_Frank 1d ago

@kevpeirce @Tutanota

( It really, really is. )

Nizar Kerkeni 🇹🇳 نزار القرقني 1d ago

@Tutanota ping @pixelfed 👍

@Tutanota
Total crap.

@Tutanota left Meta a year ago or so, using Mastodon, Pixelfed, Signal and Threema instead. Left Google, Microslop, Amazon and several US streaming services as well. Feels good to store data in the EU and use open source software!

The Drop Bear 2.0

@Tutanota When I was volunteering on the social media team for the Women’s March4Justice in Australia in 2021 and the levels of misogyny and abuse (but I repeat myself) that we copped were so vile and terrifying. I left and have never been back. the only social media I use now is Mastodon.

Jonas 🇩🇰 🇬🇱1d ago

@Tutanota The more adds Meta deploy on Facebook the better. I really don't know anyone who is interested in paying for Facebook and therefore more adds may be the trigger for them to leave. Time will show.

ĞÖKÜ👻👻™1d ago

@Tutanota I'm happy to join all meta apps or other apps, only if they pay me 😊

@Tutanota Meta? Niemals! ✊

@Tutanota Are there good alternatives to Facebook groups?

@Tutanota using instagram through brave browser so to give away less data and not see ads, also the annoyance of the web app blocks me from wasting hours on reels

Ceridwen 1d ago

I left meta for real at the beginning of the year but recently deleted all the accounts.

I did not attempt to find replacements for legacy centralized social services as they are obsolete.

Substack is even beginning to feel like a facebook marketplace for thoughts.

at proto and activitypub all the way for me right now.

Λευτέρης Τ.1d ago

@Tutanota seems like a was an ab tester on these. I had these ad breaks on stories and posts for a year now. They indeed remind me to stop scrolling sometimes and close the app xd

Lazy B0y 1d ago

@lefteristrip23

i use it exactly like that…

this plus the sheer rate of ads - at least 50% of content if not more - make me use insta a lot less.

Λευτέρης Τ.1d ago

@lazyb0y @Tutanota it really saddens me how insta has gone to shit. Full of ads and low quality posts, ai slop and my friends' posts always end up burried.

Lazy B0y 1d ago

@lefteristrip23

they do everything so any sensible person cant stand it for just half an hour.

the contrary of what they want to achieve, but they never really cared about how their users who made them big experience their platform.

In addition the behavior and trump support of their owner - I see it as a good thing that they help me to avoid their product...

( with "i use it like that" i meant to say i use their massive enshittyfication to help me get off my insta addiction)

Erotic Mythology 🌹1d ago

@Tutanota I decided against using any #META socials because of the hostility towards adult creators on all of their platforms. I opted for Twitter instead and I had a good time until the Muskrat bought it. Now I think the #Fediverse is our best chance as adult creators. I wrote as much in a blog post 2 years ago:

https://eroticmythology.com/why-mastodon-adult-content-creators/

I'm using Mastodon but Pixelfed and Loops are probably cool alternatives for Instagram refugees.

Why Mastodon is our Best Chance as Adult Content Creators

A lesson from Tumblr, Patreon, and OnlyFans: you WILL be kicked to the curb if you create adult content. It's only a matter of time. But how is Mastodon different?

Erotic Mythology

@AimeeMaroux @Tutanota Please don't debase muskrats too much, they are kind of cute (although invasive in Europe)

Erotic Mythology 🌹1d ago

@aurochs Nothing against real muskrats, of course.

I moved away from Meta years ago.

My alternatives to Whatsapp are:
1. Threema
2. Signal
3. Element

My alternatives to Facebook are:
1. Mastodon
2. Mewe

My alternative to Instagram is:
Pixelix (Pixelfed client)

troy_friz_zell 1d ago

I left Facebook in 2015 and simply never replaced it. There was nothing there for me. People I met in school are almost all horrible and my family has my phone number if they need anything.

Nicole Parsons 1d ago

On YouTube & Instagram it gets easier & easier to just exit the application when the 1st ad appears.

The interruptions are tedious & the spyware surveillance of adtech just encourages the practice of departure.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/targeted-advertising-gives-your-location-government-just-ask-cbp

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-11/surveillance-company-turns-ad-data-into-government-tracking-tool

https://www.wired.com/story/gravy-location-data-app-leak-rtb/

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/online-behavioral-ads-fuel-surveillance-industry-heres-how

https://www.wired.com/story/how-pentagon-learned-targeted-ads-to-find-targets-and-vladimir-putin/

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/10/the-global-surveillance-free-for-all-in-mobile-ad-data/

https://netzpolitik.org/2025/databroker-files-all-you-need-to-know-about-how-adtech-data-exposes-the-eu-to-espionage/

https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/30/opinion_browser/

https://theintercept.com/2022/04/22/anomaly-six-phone-tracking-zignal-surveillance-cia-nsa/

https://www.wired.com/story/google-dv360-banned-audience-segments-national-security/

https://www.404media.co/eskimi-2/

The Government Uses Targeted Advertising to Track Your Location. Here's What We Need to Do.

The online advertising industry has built a massive surveillance machine, and the government can co-opt it to spy on us.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

@Npars01 @Tutanota Imagine this could be potentially depressing for a person of limited means. I am convinced that all mobile phones can by the government civil service listen into people’s conversations because I tested it!

@Npars01 @Tutanota
At the moment on Instagram you can still use the FOLLOWING feed that doesn't have any ads. It's just people you follow. That's all I use and it's great.

BestReptile 🦎1d ago

@Tutanota About 4 years ago.
I use Pixelfed, Loops, Ghost, BookWyrm, and Mastodon, and I'll be trying out GoToSocial soon.

Tina Kolesnik 1d ago

@Tutanota I post to pixelfed - it's still quiet there, but that was the lure for me. https://pixelfed.org/

Pixelfed - Decentralized social media

Learn more about Pixelfed, the free and open-source decentralized photo sharing social media platform

Pixelfed

The_Universality 1d ago

Moved away when I've fully switched to Linux.

I hadn't really used Instagram of Facebook at all, to be honest, I only had the accounts.

But it was the most satisfying last interaction with Meta while I was deleting the IG and FB accounts.

As satisfying as was deleting Microslop account.

@Tutanota I left every meta platform 2 years ago and am still waiting for them to actually Delete some search results with my old @.

Ad blockers work in browsers still with this? Or are the ads implemented like they are on twitch

@Tutanota I left Facebook and Instagram years ago. I didn't really need alternatives, since neither of those platforms were making my life better in any way. Mastodon is the only social network I use.

Ryan Pollard 💾1d ago

@thestrangelet @Tutanota +1

Bryan (he/him) 🇺🇸 🏳️‍🌈1d ago

Meta randomly wanted me to verify my identity one day, about 1.5 years ago. They requested my ID to re-enable to my account. I just let the account go unconfirmed because I will not give Meta that information.

@Tutanota
I left Facebook ages ago, long before META existed.

I've been clean ever since

@Tutanota
I quit smoking in 2009 after marriage.
I quit windows in 2018 after I faced some issues with incompatible software.
I quit FB, Twitter, Whatsapp, Reddit after 2022 when shitstorm started due to wars.

Every time I quit I felt only relief.

Baharul Islam 1d ago

@Tutanota I use @pixelfed