Americans love independence. The Declaration of Independence gave us our nation.
But there are a few different notions of independence.
The most cinematic is the Lone Ranger. And we often think of ourselves this way. Alone against the world. Dealing with evil naysayers and forging a path ahead.
There is a place for that, sure. But interdependence and specialization is what has made our nation so prosperous!
The type of "Independence" we are talking about here is a system of voluntary partnerships. And the freedom to leave those partnerships as you wish. Don't be stuck under someone else's thumb. Don't be tied to their success or failure.
This is how you should treat your emails and your online social network.
Don't be entirely dependent on a single entity! Sure the platforms (Facebook, Meta, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and the like) provide a great service. But if they cancel you or turn their services off tomorrow, will you still be able to function?
This is why so many folks say "build an email list!" to create platform independence.
But what if you do that through your Gmail address...?
What if your Gmail address is on your business cards? And is the only email you have handed out for years?
Do you see that you are stuck to Google's platform?
You can still use Google's email service if you like (but know that there are others that are better). Just do it with your own domain, so you call the shots. If they step over a line, if they start misbehaving, or if they cancel you, you can take your network elsewhere.
Using their domain ties you to their service. They control you.
That's not the independence that our founders fought for.