this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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Privacy

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Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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Why does this community, which is privacy oriented, use Discord rather than Matrix? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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On the side bar it lists the following:

  • [Matrix/Element]Dead
  • Discord

"Discord" is an active link, but the Matrix link is completely inactive. Not only is it inactive (which could have be excused as a broken link), but it is also manually labeled as "Dead", as if there is no intention of making it work. How can a community that is focused on privacy willingly favor a service that is privacy non-respecting when a perfectly functional privacy-respecting alternative exists?

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Because privacy and convenience are two extreme opposites and you can only go so far in the privacy direction before you start losing everything. Discord just works a million times better as a public forum/community than Matrix and is much more easily accessible to everyone.

There is a limit. I am privacy conscious but I still use all Google Services for example, because they actually provide me with a better web, work, mobile and entertainment experiences. Similarly, I prefer Discord for big communities with channels, server bots and topics, over Matrix.

Edit: all those people saying we can't be privacy conscious and use Google Services at the same time: yes you can. Their services literally make my life better so I will keep using them, but I keep what I share with them to the absolute minimum. I go into their settings and disable everything I can about tracking and ads personalization (even if they still track me, I do my best not to be). You can surely still be privacy conscious using non-private products. Being extremist is not how you convince average joes to think about privacy, nor by telling them to give up all they use for unknown (for them) alternatives.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

i dont think anyone using google services is "privacy conscious"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because privacy communities are a joke.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah it quickly becomes a dick measuring contest and shunning people for using different things. It becomes very black/white views, and have some crazy out of touch takes, like expecting your grandma to self host lol. They also confuse anonymity with privacy, like how not being able to sign up for something with tor and monero is a privacy violation, it's not.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think it falls into the same pitfalls as most super niche communities, like a lot of subreddits did.

For example, the shaving subreddit (/r/wicked_edge I think?). Its mission statement was to introduce people to cleaner, safer, and more efficient shaving methods. And for the most part, with all of its resources and wikis, it successfully did it. But if you choose to stay after you've made your informed purchases, the posts were mostly braggarts showing off their latest hundreds-of-dollars handles, supreme razor blades, brushes made from actual gold, that sort of thing. My point is, the average person (by my guess, like 90% of people going to the site) gets the information they need and then never participate in the community again. But those who stay are those who really want to stay-- people who are most likely to brag and boast. So over time, it falls more and more into plain old dick measuring contests.

This obviously isn't true of all communities, but I think it's a common pitfall for a lot of them. I can imagine privacy is very similar: take all the steps you can to learn to protect your privacy, and then... you're good, for the most part.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wow this is great I am surprised to see people talking about this (let alone even being aware of it).

Really refreshing to not have it to be a contest to follow random dogmas.

Lemmy is refreshingly smarter than I was used to seeing on Reddit.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

Hahahaha

Not have it be a contest to follow random dogmas

Lemmy is refreshingly smarter than... reddit

I don't know if this was intentional or not, but either way this was hilarious!!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Thank you! It's basically impossible to use discord anonymously

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most cryptocurrency communities use Discord or Telegram. It's such an embarrasment.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I've never understood this either, given the whole notion and enthusiasm behind decentralization. I get the trade-offs regarding privacy, security, and convenience, but if you're really tryna start a movement, and you really believe in the concept and principles of something like cryptocurrency, it seems like your communities and communication channels should also reflect similar values.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

And that's where you realize that them defending decentralization is just trying to have a nice-sounding argument instead of assuming their dreams of getting rich with new tech

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Crypto enthusiasts don't really care or understand decentralization. If you talk to crypto bros you will realize pretty quickly that a lot of them are very very low IQ morons.

I was at an event and met a crypto bro. He tried to explain to a group of us that btc is like moss and the world is the forest. A couple people legitimately "got it" and began to get excited about crypto.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Crypto enthusiasts don't really care or understand decentralization.

I wouldn't criticize others for their low IQ while making such a dumb generalization.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's the timeless debate between accessibility and exclusivity. Do you want more people in your community by compromising some values? Or would you rather be a hardliner but never reach those people?

Most of the time you have to pick somewhere on that spectrum. It's a question of pragmatism and utilitarianism.

Does it do more good for lots of people to be slightly more privacy-aware, or is it better to have a very small portion of the population that are super privacy-aware?

You have to decide, and the debate rages on all the time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you compromise on the very topic you're promoting, you don't care enough.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Isn't Lemmy itself a big compromise?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Wait, really? So you think Matrix is the ultimate form of secure and private "chat" communities? Because if it is not then it is a compromise.

This Lemmy instance for sure as hell is not the most private and secure.