I am soon moving out for university and am going to meet a bunch of new folks. But I was wondering how do you go about approaching this with privacy in mind?
It is a little bit whonky to ask someone you just met to download Signal, if it is a group of people then it is more acceptable, or like how do you keep in contact if they don't use any of the messaging platforms you use such as Signal and Telegram, and if you don't use any of the ones they use such as Whatsapp or Instagram DMs (yes zoomers in the US use these) or Snapchat? Do you just use SMS where videos are absolute shit quality and you have no privacy there either?
Let me know how you deal with this issue.
Privacy first, not privacy always.
Basically, I accept the fact not everyone cares as much as i do, about their personal privacy.
So, although I would consider a privacy orientated solution to my own problem first, i cannot expect that of others, so, its not the end of the world. I would take steps to minimise it.
So, install whatsapp. Dont upload a profile picture other than a dumb meme. Dont have your name in profile. Dont plaster your life into messages.
Or, dont, and only interact with others who follow your strict rules of engagement.
Its a fine line. Between privacy militant and privacy conscious.
What do you mean, meeting new people?
starts playing the organ in the cellar
I am going to a bit counter culture here
Let your freak flag fly in university, as long as it doesn’t hurt others or yourself.
With luck, your friends will accept that you are a privacy weirdo but also respect what you do.
Avoid evangelizing as nobody likes a preacher, a vibe of ‘you do you’ keeps it light. You will find your peeps.
Relationships are way more important than privacy, so I am always open to making sacrifices if it means easier communication. That means keeping a mainstream social media account active (in my country Facebook Messenger is the most popular) and just limiting the data it can collect about me as best I can. Of course it's not ideal for me, but the alternative would be to cut myself off from the majority of society and that is clearly a worse option.
All the new people I’ve met since moving have only been in contact with me via sms. The only exception was when I was forced to install whatsapp to join a group chat to schedule casual basketball games. Then again I’m an older millennial and the people I meet often enough to exchange numbers with aren’t into social media that much either, so no friend requests and adding each other on social media. Just plain old sms if people want to meet up.
You can use an alternate number. But then... If they are upgraded to friend status, would you give them your personal number?
10-15 years ago students on my uni shared all juicy content on facebook groups. I never made account because I didnt like that shit (and I still dont), not because I was worried about privacy. The thing is I missed some usefull information and it made my life bit harder. I can imagine even more important content on social media today, but I would probably miss them again :)
