this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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This is like switching from Walmart to 15 other stores just to buy the same stuff. It's going to be extremely difficult to convince anyone to make this jump.
It's a actually harder because whoops, three years later you try to log into a service and it asks for a verification code sent to your Gmail address that you no longer have access to, oh well.
As the other commenter pointed out: you do that once. And if you do it properly, nobody will be sending anything to a gmail address you don't use anymore.
Then you have 15 stores all around the same parking lot, to stick with your analogy.
And yes, it's always a trade-off with convenience, but much less so than you make it sound.
BTW, above list sucks, there are much better lists of alternatives around. And articles that describe how to switch etc. etc.
I did it already many years ago. You dont have to purposely loose all your old accesses. You can secure them and abandon them.
It happened once in 10y that I had to go back to recover 1 email from my google account but it was for something stupid that I could have avoided.
The hard part could be WhatsApp in Europe. I abandoned it the day after it was bought by facebook
Tell me what motivated you to go through that?
Also, I'm a pirate, and I hate ads. Only thing I still use is YouTube, but without an account and with ublock / Newpipe
Understanding very early the toxicity of some social networks
Not wanting to be a number in a database for marketing targeting
Not wanting to be found by anyone online by just typing my name (privacy and security)
Being very selective with who is a friend and who is not and sharing with them only what I want (sending them a picture or a meme without my grandma or my boss or my neighbor knowing)
It's more like switching to 15 other specialized stores which all value one's privacy as opposed to the one which does everything and leverages its user data for maximum profit. No offence but comments like yours serve no purpose other than to impede non-tech-savvy people's digital empowerment.
Many of the services depicted here aren't really in reach for the average user and that is a problem we cannot ignore. People aren't too stupid to realize that switching E-mail addresses requires planning, but there are many hurdles that pave the way from something like Google Photos towards Immich, imho the most significant app category up there.
So unfortunately you are correct. Transitions like that are extremely difficult especially after the decision has been made. Which makes it all the more important that we do not paint a picture of doom and gloom when the price of inaction is de-facto surveillance.
I would argue that empowerment is more associated with capability rather than privacy or social justice (Whatever reason people are protesting Google); and having an all in one stop is incredibly convenient, and thus capable.
Sounds like the type of person who would buy a smart toaster and give Google even more intimate data they can use to predict you.
Okay, let me empower you with living on Mars in a small shack that's temperature controlled with oxygen
Wow so much privacy.... you're so empowered now.
I keep a librewolf browser with a profile named BS that I use for logging into these services. You could do something like that to log into these services once every few months to keep it active until you're ready to completely let go.
And btw, most of these services are open source. Although it would have been nice to see peertube on there