Maybe not in America, but WhatsApp is basically mandatory in some countries. Schools will send out communications exclusively over it and many businesses exclusively use it for payment. 92% of Israeli phones have it installed. For some, the option is Facebook or not participating in society.

A closed circuit camera system that exists for the purpose of helping to prevent or resolve any criminal issues and is otherwise not used for anything else is far different from tracking non-FB users (eg, "he isn't forcing you to use Facebook") and profiling them via trackers embedded on websites that you may use even without a FB account.

You do not expect a stranger to track everything possible about you and then go on to sell that data from a casual interaction.

You don't have to actually use Facebook in order to have your privacy violated by Facebook.

This came out years ago in Congressional hearings. It's also why lots of people who never had Facebook accounts got privacy-violation money from Facebook — it created profiles of people in the backgrounds of photos.

Browser fingerprinting is how they are able to track you across the internet despite having no connection with facebook.

One way to fix this to stop your PC from communicating with any facebook servers.

- Firefox provides an extension for this.

There must be other methods that I am not aware of but if anybody knows.

Unless you are constantly on guard and take defensive measures, Facebook spies on you even if you don't use it. So he is forcing you to contribute to Facebook.

Tell that to anyone who needs to use an Oculus device for work. Facebook required, friend!

1. Data Privacy - They will try to find every possible way to sell your data and not get noticed.

2. Depleting Mental Health - They will try to find every possible way to keep you engaged on the platform. That is often done by algorithmically promoting content that inspires extreme emotions in you. Emotions such as anger, jealousy, lust etc. That is not healthy for maintaining a good emotional balance.

3. Fake News - They will try to find every possible way to shrug off responsibility for spreading fake news. This affects politics by creating echo chambers, healthcare by preventing people from believing in the correct diagnostics and other areas.

I agree that nobody is stopping you from opening facebook, but facebook is like smoking. Everyone only wants to try it once, and then many fall into the downward spiral.

I was reading somewhere that how resisting facebook and all of facebook products everyday is not possible with the will power reserves that an average human has. This is because he is competing with psychologists and researchers employed by facebook who have been studying human behaviour for years.

I do not have any sources to back my claims. Social Media has personally affected me a lot so I keep reading about the phenomena out of curiosity. Here's one little article that breifly describes what I am talking about. https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-technology-hijacks-peop...

- Nobody is forcing me to use youtube, but youtube has years of collection of important tutorials and educational material.

- Nobody is forcing me to use facebook (and its products) but fb has gathered users over the years that forces me to use the product in order to remain a part of the social sphere. Kids feeling left out in high-school because of not using instagram is an example.

- Nobody is forcing me to use Netflix, but if I want to watch the trendy movie that my friends are talking about, I do not have a choice.

If you see the pattern, tech companies by the virtue of their money have created a social effect where they might not "force" me to use their product but I have to use it if I wish to remain a part of the society.

It is difficult to swim upstream and the companies by the virtue of their deep pockets have shifted the flow that helps them make the most money.