Divesting from Big Tech
Below is my plan and progress on divesting from big tech, owning my own media, and archiving my digital and physical life. I know from my time on Neocities that the internet as I once knew and loved it still exists. It just isn't always mobile-friendly and SEO-optimized. I have been feeling more and more avoidant around social media and digital spaces, both out of a sense of discomfort around the perpetual panopticon, the knowledge that my time and effort is under the control of money-hungry billionaires, and the god-awful homogenization and enshittification of it all.
Gmail --> Proton Mail
I've switched from Gmail to Proton Mail. This is fairly easy, as Proton automates the process. However, some email inboxes filter out Proton Mail emails, and some of my outgoing emails went undelivered, not even appearing in people's spam folders. Using a custom Domain has helped.
Google Drive --> Proton Drive and PC
Using Google Takeout, I was able to export my Google Drive to my PC. That which I need available on multiple devices, I moved to Proton Drive.
Spotify --> Digital Audio Player and MediaMonkey
I canceled Spotify Premium and purchased an Innioasis Y1. I had an iPod Classic I wanted to use, but the hard drive was borked. Eventually I'd like to tinker with it - add a new hard drive, battery, blue tooth.
In the meantime, the Innioasis Y1 works well with Rockbox installed. The original firmware and UI kind of sucks.
This has meant getting files to try and rebuild my library on Spotify. How you choose to do that is none of my business.
Instagram -- > Archived to Static Webpage
I am not deleting Instagram (yet) as it is somewhat essential to my art business.
Instagram --> social media platforms I feel good about
- Tumblr (on thin ice)
- are.na
- Substack
Google Photos -- > Immich
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- GoogleTakeoutFixer helped reattach metadata to photos
- Photos now in Immich! Hurray!