Just a few companies on Planet Earth have essentially monopolized the internet. While the World Wide Web began as a distributed platform, certain players in the industry have built products that erect walled gardens, vacuum in users and traffic, and give outside players the cold shoulder.
The internet wasn’t created for Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, to own every piece of hypertext real estate. And, as it turns out, it is incredibly difficult to truly quit them for more open alternatives.
Concerns about Big Tech are one of the few bipartisan issues these days, and dedicated people are trying to make the internet a wonderful place again.
What follows are some Big Tech issues and some suggested replacement options. A few are clear alternatives, while some are experiments when a solution isn’t obvious. I welcome any comments or suggestions to further build out this list.
Big Tech | Solution(s) |
Twitter/X | Mastodon is the best solution (Follow Me Here). A federated application using ActivityPub, you can select a local server that meets your expectations for rules and moderation. If you decide you don’t like the Instance your profile sits on, you can simply move to another server. BlueSky is another solution (Follow Me Here). This is a decentralized application similar to Twitter. It is not federated, however, and does not use the ActivityPub protocol. There are ongoing concerns if BlueSky can scale up, and because of investment dollars, there is a chance of future enshittification when the bills need to be paid. |
Google Search | DuckDhttps://duckduckgo.com/uckGo is a slam-dunk alternative. While some people report that the search results are not as solid as Google, I am skeptical. Google search is now so overloaded with SEO junk and aggregator content, DuckDuckGo is the search everybody should be using. |
Instagram | PixelFed is another federated application using the ActivityPub protocol. That does mean it isn’t too different from Mastodon. But it has a great community focused on photography. Use the #Introduction hashtag and tell people about yourself, with a nice photo, and you will be surprised how much engagement you get. |
Windows, MacOS, etc. | I will preface this by saying I am still a loyal and happy MacOS user. I also use Windows every day as part of my job. Both are huge, proprietary operating systems from Big Tech. The obvious solution is Linux, which remains a challenging operating system despite many strides in ease-of-use. If Adobe ever released a Linux version of Lightroom Classic, I would have to think about this. So I don’t anticipate a Linux distribution being my daily driver anytime soon, but options do exist. I usually run these in VMware Fusion, and I like the UI of Ubuntu and Linux Mint the best. |
Google Chrome, and Chromium browsers | Apple does make a browser, but I didn’t include them as the Big Tech issue, as Safari has a small user base. The larger issue is Chrome, and the browser engine that browsers most of its competitors. Firefox remains the champion. I have used this browser to the beginning, literally as far back as when it was Phoenix 0.1. Firefox maker Mozilla still struggles in the face of its better-funded competitors, but the desktop browser is fast, stable, and I feel, a superior web experience. |
iMessage, etc. | Messaging remains a mess. Even with Apple’s support for the RCS protocol, messaging between iOS and Android users is still buggy and not secure. This is somewhat a USA problem, as we are one of the few countries that users our cell phone # for messaging, while the rest of the world uses apps like WhatsApp. But WhatsApp is now owned by Meta, so that is a non-starter. The best solution is Signal, which works well, has a consistent UI no matter the device, and is truly end-to-end encrypted. The only real challenge with Signal is convincing your text-messaging friends and family to start using it. |
Gmail | Most of the industry has given up on email and conceded the entire market to Google (sounds like search, doesn’t it?). Indeed, it can be difficult to give up Gmail, which offers an organized and clean interface for the most part. Google also loves to serve you advertising based on your email, as well. This is a huge privacy issue that most users, admittedly including me, have ignored. Simple options exist like local hosting your email. But I don’t like the web interface from my hosting provider, and I don’t want to rely solely on localized email through Thunderbird of Apple Mail. The best solution appears to be Proton. They offer a very simple free account with small storage options, so you will want to be prepared to begin paying a fee. What you do get is encrypted mail with a nice UI. There is a desktop app, a mobile client, and you can also access through your browser. If you pick one of the better tiers, you also get Proton’s VPN product included, which is nice. |