I had turned targeted ads off, on Facebook and Instagram. I still got ads but they were not targeted based on my data. I could live with that
Today I got a popup requiring me to pick an option of either accepting targeted ads or pay the equivalent of €13/$14 for an addfree experience across all meta platforms.
Quite a few people I know ranging in age from 20s to 40s do. There isn’t really a replacement with its defining characteristics:
It’s that last point nothing else can match. If I post something to Facebook, most people I know have a chance of seeing it. Five people I actually know follow me on Mastodon.