there are too many frictions overall.

That was my experience too. I can’t remember now what my objections were, but I tried it and did not like it or want to use it.

I am now self hosting XMPP + encryption server which I have got some of my friends to install clients for. Oh, they bitch nonstop about how it isn’t as nice as whatever big tech app they are used to. But they use it, because I am not going to talk to them on $TrendingSurveillanceApp.

That reminds me of a quote I heard once. Probably from Cory Doctorow but I cannot remember now.

“Everyone wants you to have privacy… just not from them.”

From the article, the subpoenas went to Google, Meta, Reddit, and Discord, and are targeting accounts that “lack real names”.

Even if someone has signed up with fake names, I hold tremendous suspicion they can ID people anyway. Of course their accuracy is going to depend on many things. For example, did someone use their own IP, or a VPN? Did they use the app, or a web interface? But some of those sites won’t even allow signups through VPNs.

There is a big industry built around browser and device fingerprinting for “identity resolution”. This tech was driven by the advertising industry, after their ability to use cookies for identification was curtailed. I have no way to prove this, nor evidence for this, but I would eat my hiking boots if the big social media sites did NOT use that sorta tech.

KeyPassXC is the way to go, IMO. It is wonderful. The password db is stored locally on your disk. It integrates nicely with firefox and probably other browsers too. Open source, no spyware, “just works”.