@dajbelshaw @keverets @RussSharek
The availability of free #xmpp servers is least concern. From my experience, people hesitate to join because installing FDroid is too many steps, and because their friends don't use xmpp yet (chicken and egg problem).
@colinl @dajbelshaw @keverets @RussSharek hello people, I'm going through the exact same problem of switching me and my friends off of fb because of the horrendous privacy violations.
So far the best bet seems to be conversations on android with a trustworthy xmpp server. But the thing is, why should I put my trust into an admin that i heard has the ability to read my password in clear text and to modify messages? Is that still a thing or is it an older problem? Also, matrix seemed promising at first but when I looked into their history it seems like they received funding in their initial phase from Amdocs, an Israeli company that has a history of spying. This is so frustrating to feel paranoid and like you aren't safe from privacy violations anywhere.
If my friends on ios were able to use briar, we'd probably switch to that.
What are your opinions? Please help a newb out 
@ancommie @colinl @dajbelshaw @RussSharek with OMEMO (same underlying protocol as Signal, adapted for XMPP) the server admin cannot see your messages. They can still see the metadata of who you're communicating with and how often. Thousands of small servers are more difficult to breach en masse than a few big ones, so the strength is more in the distribution.
Also, can run your own (or trusted tech friend) with something like Snikket fairly easily
