I know the HN audience has lots of people who would like to be sycophantic to Thiel and call my above commentary rude, but man.. it is such an overwhelming stench.
No one is legally required to have a Facebook account, but if you want to find out what times businesses are (actually) open and closed, get the latest information about what's happening in your neighborhood or even remain somewhat connected with people, you absolutely need to have an Instagram account and better be fine with using X (hence Musk willing to break the bank to acquire it).
In many countries, you must have a WhatsApp account to receive official communications from their governments. In other words, not having a WhatsApp account could be a safety issue.
We should want subsidiary and solidarity.
Thiel is a libertarian (i.e., effectively a classical liberal and then some), and libertarians are individualists who view society as some kind of thing we enter into almost grudgingly and purely for the sake of private self-interest. The notion of the common good is either offensive to them, or understood as something ceded to "society" by individuals with little enthusiasm, but for the sake of some kind of utility or unfortunate necessity. For a libertarian to "architect society" can only mean ordering it in a manner that conforms to libertarian notions, and in practice, this means rule of the powerful for their own self-interest. This is the definition of tyranny.
The Soviets, too, wanted to "architect" societies, to remake Man and society in their own image, gladly throwing millions under the crushing wheels of the socialist machine.
The similarities between the two are not an accident, because they're not true opposites.
There is no such thing as independence. It's a delusion. People get wrapped up in the idea that they have merit at the expense of others, and their good fortune should keep them isolated. It doesn't make sense unless you have some weird psychological issues.