Just got a truck load of birthday greetings for the fake birthday I have FB. Only two people remembered my real birthday.
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I have to use it for the PR connection to a few projects I am involved with so can’t drop it.
However I can tame it and my use of it.
My FB chat is done using alternative clients such as Trillian, Pidgin, Miranda-NG.
This means I don’t get the extra notifications for stuff I am not interested in.
I use “F.B.Purity” extension to take control of what is shown to me, and how, which also means removing adverts and promoted posts.
“Social Fixer” is another.
I use an extension with MBFC news categorisations so I can see the reported trustability of various news sources that people share.
I use another extension that shows the political leanings of your contacts so you have an idea how biased their posts may be.
(a handy use of the facebook API)
I also use HOSTS blocking and a blocker extension to calm down the connections made to and from FB.
In Vivaldi desktop browser I have added the mobile addresses to my web panels, so I can see my notifications at a glance without having to see anything else that may distract me.
eg. m.facebook.com/notifications and mbasic.facebook.com/notifications
Once I have responded to a notification or done what I need, using the main browser again closes the panel so I can go back to ignoring it.
I subscribe to the feed on the site Facecrooks so I can keep up with or report the latest FB controversy 
https://feeds.feedburner.com/Facecrooks?format=xml
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You are definitely on top of the situation, eventually you will be able to terminate your usage altogether. Rome wasn’t built overnight it will take some time. I commend your astute attention to eliminating any manipulation by Fakebook. Finally someone in control of Fakebook. Keep up the good work. Listen up people, take back control of the internet. Don’t be the problem be the answer!
@Leo you may want to read my post above for tips on using FB without having to see all that crud.
In short for you.
FB chat on Linux with https://www.pidgin.im
FB chat on Android and iOS use https://trillian.im
Hide all the crud in the desktop browser such as adverts, politics and promoted posts.
https://www.fbpurity.com (also available as a Userscript)
or
https://socialfixer.com
“Fold” news items on FB and Twitter based on trustability with https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/appsextensions/
Bookmark the notifications URL for the mobile site (as in my post above), not the main front of the site. That way you can skim quickly without distraction.
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I have not used pidgin for more than 15 years. Does it really work for Facebook messages?
Yeah works fine though basic.
The underlying chat network is still standard. They just added a lot of fluff alongside it.
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I didn’t leave facebook, but it seems that facebook now thinks I am too hateful to be there:
That was in response to this post:
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A replacement for Fakebook is sorely needed. What’s sad is that it doesn’t surprise me that they did this. I’ve given up on controversial posts on FB, saving them just for Twitter.
If I could get the groups I connect with via Facebook and onto another platform, I could easily leave Facebook. However both my Burn Camp and Church Active Members group have people of varying ages and this is the only single platform I would say we can all agree works.
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A lot of people seem to like Parler.com because there aren’t any restrictions on there. Personally, I don’t use any of them other than using Marketplace on Facebook and things of that nature but it is an alternative.
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I simply stopped using Facebook years ago. Moved entirely to Discord.
Over time my wife joined it with me, then one brother, than my mother, etc.
At this point, over half my extended family refuses to use Facebook for one reason or another, but we’re all on Discord.
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Good for you and your family.
God Bless you !
Again for the record.
FACEBOOK is EVIL 
!
It must go for good.
As soon as we started using Discord for Club TWiT I realized that it was the ideal social network. If only I could get my family and friends to use it!
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I am really glad that it works so well for Club TWiT! Just came to add that it’s a very distinct, ephemeral, live type of social network. It’s live at full speed. I really like the more pedestrian pace of the forum. Simply encourages to take more time to formulate a thought and share it, I feel.
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I hear Facebook is going to change their name. Maybe it could become TWiT Plus.
That’s precisely the reason I have to stay on Facebook, my family & friends are there including the networking I do with in the church. I could never get them to join a service call discord.
I have 2 issues with Facebook gone. Number 1 is same rezone why I hate the idea of keeping people like sex offers off the internet “family, friends and classmates being reyonighted” , and 2nd The Oculus Rift.
Much as I don’t love centralized services, Discord has a great UX for real-time chat.
A lot of online interactions aren’t a great fit for real-time chat though, and it’s easy for chat to become a time sink. Forums like this are a great fit for long-lived topical discussions, as illustrated by this two year old active thread. I don’t have to keep this open to see replies to my post in time to participate, and anyone who wants to leave one for me can take their time thinking about what to say.
For personal social media, I find a lot to like about Facebook’s format, but their incentives don’t align with my needs at all. I want to see original content from people I know, with some people and topics prioritized over others. Facebook, however prefers for people to share a lot of third-party content, especially if it provokes knee-jerk comments.
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I stepped away from Facebook at the start of this year, and I am much happier 
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As much as I wanted to dump FB I’m glad I didn’t. I learned of my great niece being shot. She was standing in her house when a hail of bullets came from the woods behind her home. She was hit in the lung with the bullet lodging in her neck. Her new born baby was untouched. Shooter remains at large. She has been in a coma for two days now. With FB it was easy to spread the news to the entire family.