julian

My display name on WhatsApp is “Julian via Matrix”. This is the dominant messenger in my circles and it grieves me (but doesn't surprise me) that I've yet to persuade most friends & family off it. Perhaps setting a new “about me” message can help get the word out:

“Hi! I use Matrix so that I and my contacts can talk under our own (not Zuck's) terms & conditions & control. Do you care? :–)”

I've come to realise the most important issue is not that Matrix allows me my freedom of choice, the more important issue that if I choose a restrictive (silo) messenger then my choice restricts my friends' choice and that restricts their friends' choice. I want to emphasise how one's own choice of messenger either upholds or restricts the freedom of one's friends. I want my friends to stop and think and consider how much they care and what they could do to uphold their own friends' freedom.

“I'm using Matrix because: (2) my conversations are under my control, my choice of terms & conditions, my country's law (not Zuck's laws and algorithms); and (1) it's not about me: Matrix is decentralised, meaning the service is not all controlled by the same company, and so I uphold my friends' and family's freedom to choose different T&C's by using a different service provider, because some of them may have friends who are under 16 years old, or in countries WhatsApp doesn't support, or who want to use a different software to access their data, or who don't want to be mined and targeted by profiling and advertising, or who just want to talk to each other on their own terms.”

or (in a 139-character “about” message):

“I'm using Matrix, upholding my friends' right to talk under T&Cs they (not Zuck) chose. Would you grant your friends their rights? Join us!”

I hope some of my friends and family see it and have a think about what it means.