If you use email, then you’re using the Internet technology with the greatest network effect on the planet.

Not even Meta can compete with email.

Better yet, just like the Fediverse, email is federated.

Anyone who says that social media won’t work if it’s decentralized and requires multiple servers is lying: they use email.

And email is why it was so easy for me to delete my Facebook account.

By the way, I’m completely convinced that 80% of all social networking can be done through email and calendaring.

Personal updates? Yep.

Photo sharing? Yep.

Events? Yep.

Email’s shortcoming is that it’s not so good for public-facing media. But that’s where ActivityPub picks up the slack.

Occasionally, I get people who are absolutely insistent about connecting with me online.

So I say to them, “These are the means to get a hold of me.”

95% of people are completely fine with email.

And if people absolutely want to follow me on social media, I tell them about the Fediverse.

Here’s another great thing about not having a Facebook account:

Nobody assumes they know anything about me.

If they want to catch up, they have to actually call or meet—hear my voice. Yes, that means a higher barrier to entry, but it means that people who are interested in me need to be invested in our relationship.

Funny how that works, right?