De-Googling, and more in general
Jul 13, 2022
De-Googling is not uncommon, especially among people concerned with internet privacy and the slow web. I'm not going to make the argument for de-Googling in this post. The fact that a single company is so huge that we all struggle to free ourselves from it says it all. Because Google (and Facebook, and Amazon) are so pervasive in standard life at this point, everyone has their own strategies for separation. I will just describe what I've done. My hope is that it's at least partially helpful for someone else on the same journey.
Just one glance at Google's array of products is overwhelming. I've seen more than one person say that unless something is just as good as a Google service, they wouldn't consider it. I can't understand this position. If the motivations behind de-Googling are personally valuable at all, wouldn't you be willing to compromise something in exchange? Rarely is anything without tradeoff. Needless to say, that's not my attitude. I am open to products that may be worse in some ways, if it means I can get away from Google. Simply giving up a service with no replacement is also an option.
- Search Google's flagship product. I switched to Ecosia years ago. I know they are based off Microsoft Bing (at least they were at some point), but I can't say no to trees. Though they do claim to respect user privacy, it likely isn't the most robust on that front. I'm okay with that — I've mostly chosen them for the trees.
- Chrome I never really used Chrome, since I've been on Safari forever.
- Email Since my job uses Google products, my professional email will likely never be de-Googled. I switched my personal email to a paid Proton account years ago.
- Calender Similarly to GMail, my professional calendar remains with Google. I keep my personal events stored in iCloud.
- Drive An example of a service I simply stopped using with no direct replacement. I now back up my files periodically to a physical hard drive. Proton is supposedly working on both a Calendar and Drive replacement, but their development is slow.
- Docs and Sheets Another product I simply don't really use. For personal projects, I rarely use word processors or spreadsheets — depending on the specific context, the equivalent tools might be Obsidian, LaTeX, Julia, or R.
- Maps To look up specific addresses, I use HERE WeGo. To browse around looking for something (like trying to pick a restaurant for dinner), I've been trying to just use my legs and eyes! Otherwise, I use Apple maps.
- YouTube My main strategy with YouTube has also been to severely pare down how much I actually use it. I pretty much only watch three channels now, all of which I track using NewsBlur. When they post a new video, it's delivered to my feed there, so I never actually go to YouTube's own page. (I'm pleasantly surprised YouTube still supports RSS feeds for channels!) I also use this Safari extension to block YouTube ads and analytics.
I quit Facebook over ten years ago. At the time, it felt extremely isolating because everyone was still using it to connect, invite people to events, and chat. Now, no one really uses it, besides parents. Facebook still owns a lot of important brands, though.
- WhatsApp and Messenger Depending on the person, I either use SMS, iMessage, or Signal. All of these messaging services surely have their own privacy issues, especially SMS. Could they be worse than Facebook's though?
- Instagram Easy. Don't use it and try to avoid social media. I've been trying to work productively, spend time with friends and family, volunteer, read (very trashy romance novels — I'm no monk), and write.
- Marketplace Again: buy less stuff.
Amazon
There was a point in time when my friends and I were buying on Amazon almost as sport. Beyond that, Amazon is just so convenient. Need oddly-sized batteries? A screen protector? Korean skincare? That one tech product with a really long name containing a serial number? Any weird single-purpose doohickey? Amazon is perfect for these types of low-demand products that are hard for a brick-and-mortar store to carry. It really took effort to wean myself off of Amazon. At the beginning, I found myself totally at a loss for where else to even find these objects. (Again, this total dependence is telling and frightening.)
I haven't bought anything from Amazon in about five years, so by now I've adjusted. The strategy I use the most is just to buy less stuff. If I do have to buy something, I probably have to accept that I won't get something as specifically perfect as if I had the whole product selection from Amazon. I usually try to find a physical store in my area first. If that doesn't work, I'll look for a specific website (like an electronics website for a screen protector).