A while ago there was a thread here on HN about how WhatsApp had got quite big in Brazil. The particular thing I remember was that apparently, in some school districts, you'd have to be on WhatsApp to get information about your kids' school. If not mistaken, this was at the time when the new privacy policy was being rolled out, with threats of being cut off from the service if you didn't accept it.
The school can only communicate via so many platforms, and they're likely to choose the biggest ones in their area. So when you're banned, or for some other reason can't or won't go on them, then it's a problem.
Of course, the bigger point is that maybe this kind of services shouldn't transit only through social media but should be available in an open way, but I won't hold my breath, at least for the time being.
You suggest that life without _any_ social networking platform would be bad. All of human history before Y2K would suggest otherwise.
There are lots of ways (even on the Internet) to socially network without using Facebook (or whoever you currently think of as a Facebook compeditor).
Or, dare I suggest it, socialising without the Internet?
Prior to centralized social networks, there were _many_ tools that have been abandoned since. For instance, you would have smaller internet boards dedicated to a specific hobby or a geographic area (many of these died out). Before that, you had fanzines, local community congregation points like bars and such. But those either disappeared, or their use changed (e.g. bars as a point to meet existing friends rather than to make new acquaintances).
It is a common pattern for new technologies to displace existing tools, which means that people refusing the new technology usually end up in a worse situation than before the technology appeared.
In addition, socializing is often at least somewhat "competitive". If you are less able to network then you will be at a disadvantage when seeking a job. If you are more difficult to communicate with, then you are likely to be left out of group decisions; even if by accident. If you are advocating a political position, then not having access to the most popular communication platforms is a major handycap.
I haven’t used my Facebook (that I made in like 2007) in a few years, and I finally got around to deactivating it a week ago.
Doing so was painless—it’s all voluntary, of course, and I have plenty of (healthier) avenues to maintain relationships with my friends and family.
But the same doesn’t apply to my country! I can’t painlessly “deactivate” my citizenship and be rid of the government whenever it does something bad.
De-Googling your life is annoying, but not impossible. De-United-States-ifying your life is… way different :)