Comparatively to the rest of the internet, it seems like there are a lot more Germans here. I’ve always assumed it was just because I was on a German instance and was in a sort of echo chamber (join feddit.org btw 🥳), but I just checked Fediverse Observer and it’s the 2nd largest country by users. Additionally, the German instances seem to be the biggest non-English ones.
Why is this?
One factor is German history with Stasi und ww2 fascism. We like increased independence and privacy, so lemmy rather than Facebook
Now tell your car manufacturers that people would like privacy, not always-online cars.
Not that the others are any better, of course.
Always online cars are mandated by EU regulations, and for a very good reason: automated emergency calls including GPS coordinates in case of crashes.
Other nice benefits include regular map updates.
That said, there is a lot of garbage being attached to the online functionality nowadays. And the way data is collected and handled in the background it at least partially atrocious, so let’s attack that instead of the proverbial baby in the bathwater.
And Signal is more popular there also I think?
I think so, and Threema, too.