Ask HN: How would your life change if Facebook/Twitter disappeared?

I wouldn't lose anything if Facebook disappeared, since I don't use the site all that much.

As for Twitter? Well that'd be a bit more of an issue, though I'd probably move to a competing service like Mastodon/GNU Social or Gab.

Still, I'm not exactly a social media addict, so I guess it'd be more interesting to hear what'd change for those.

I don't use those.

I don't use FB, Twitter or any other social media so nothing would change there.

I do use Netflix though - ad-free entertainment for less than £8 a month - bargain!

Facebook: no change.

Twitter: I think I'd lose access to a lot of real-name graphics/game programmers who I like casually interacting and sharing with. On the other hand, I'd be spared their frequent overbearing political opinions.

I have a lot of Facebook friends that I would completely lose touch with, because I have no backup contact info. If I knew ahead of time that Facebook was going away, I could procure a backup method but if Facebook just disappeared one day, I would have little chance of contacting a number of acquaintances and former colleagues. In the past, I probably would have had a Rolodex, a collection of business cards or even a local phone book to fall back on, but Facebook has pretty much replaced all of that. Even though I have mainly stopped browsing timelines, this is the main value of Fb now for me.

I'm Facebook and Twitter free. Ironically HN is the most social media-y you get.

If FB suddenly disappeared, I'd lose almost all my good friends and acquaintances. And it would be hard or impossible to find them all again; they're scattered around the globe, mostly FB is the only contact point I've needed/had, dont have their phone, email or address. I should get that info, huh. On FB I almost exclusively just chat with friends.

Never used Twitter or wanted to.

ps Why would the world fall apart if Google disappeared? It's not obvious to me.

They're a great source of news. I just activated my Twitter after a decade or so of avoiding it.

Malaysia in particular is vulnerable to propaganda, because political parties own all the major free channels and newspapers. Social media has helped balance it. While the government has blocked Medium, places like Facebook and Twitter bring world news to the masses, including any stories like local corruption that a news site like WSJ would investigate but none of the local ones could.

Also about 80% of my jobs come from Facebook connections, so it is very valuable to me.

If both of those went down, we'd probably move to Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest. I think those sites are even worse for society.

It would make it basically impossible for me to know what my overseas and East Coast friends have been up to in their lives.

I don't get my news or amateur opinions from social networks so it doesn't affect me there.

It would not change at all, I don't use them...

I don't use them.

I would lose contact with some people on FB. I haven't posted in about 5 years so I don't think I would really miss it. I'd like some warning so I could get some contacts out of it first before it closes

FB: my friends would probably return to using email instead of FB (which I avoid for a number of reasons) to organize events and announce life changes like births and marriages. I'd be back in the loop. This would be a good thing.

Twitter: no effect whatsoever.

Not using them or any similar services, so I wouldn't care if they disappeared overnight.