I think most of us are aware of the shady history of Reddit when it comes to respecting privacy (and if not, here is but one example: https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/28/reddit-is-removing-ability-to-opt-out-of-ad-personalization-based-on-your-activity-on-the-platform/)
I'm wondering what you feel are the pros and cons of Lemmy in this regard?
On the one hand, Lemmy is structurally very different. There’s no single corporate entity building detailed behavioural ad profiles, most instances run minimal (or no) tracking, and you can choose an operator whose logging, retention, and analytics policies align with your risk tolerance.
Hell you can roll your own (yes, with black jack and hookers).
In theory, that alone removes a huge chunk of the surveillance-capitalism model that platforms like Reddit depend on.
On the other hand, your posts, comments, and votes are not confined to one database - they propagate across multiple servers, each with their own admins, logs, and retention practices.
Deletion is best-effort, not guaranteed. You’re effectively trusting a network of operators, not just one. I dunno whether that makes it better or worse.
Any deep thoughts on this conundrum?
PS: I'm leaning towards "don't say anything you wouldn't in a court of law" model these days. If its online - and you don't own the infra - there's always a risk.
I appreciate the detailed response, especially the idea of having separate accounts for separate interests (even if I most likely won't actually do that). At some point, the number of measures one takes in the name of their online privacy becomes too much. I think that, for now -- as someone who had a single Reddit account which had an extensive public history through several communities at the time [I didn't know any better back then] -- it's enough to just switch from these profit-driven fascist-feeding corporations to platforms like lemmy.
Maybe in the future I'll have another phase where I take it one step further, I don't know, but I don't want to make my using the internet become a nightmare.
It's a realistic appraisal of Lemmy vs Reddit you've provided, I feel.