Social Networks Review
This week I came across some alternatives to Facebook. As I am sure you all know Facebook is the number one social network today. Being number one does not mean it is without problems. There have been several security issues with Facebook over the last few months, resulting in personal information on Facebook being used by major corporations to make money. The information stolen from Facebook has resulted in several phishing schemes and the loss of millions of dollars by the users of Facebook.
Not only has data been stolen from Facebook, but Facebook has also been caught selling user data to every corporation and organization that comes with an offer, including nefarious ones like the CIA and Cambridge Analytica. Facebook also owns two of the other most popular social media sites in the world, Whatsapp and Instagram.
As a result of these issues, many people have threatened to leave Facebook and begin looking for alternatives. Looking at historic trends, they do leave Facebook for a while, but for some reason always come back. If you are looking for some alternatives then read on, but I will give you fair warning that it will be difficult to transition from Facebook, and the top options lack many of the features you have come to depend on.
The top on the list is MeWe, “Like Facebook, but with privacy.” MeWe was engineered with privacy and freedom of speech as its core values. They built a revolutionary service where people can be their real, uncensored selves. MeWe is free of advertising and spyware, has no political biases or agendas, and comes with a promise to never sell member data in part of the unique “Privacy Bill of Rights.” MeWe does not gather facial recognition data or manipulate content or the newsfeeds on you page in any way. MeWe members can also enjoy fully encrypted online chat, live video and voice calls, voice messaging and private cloud storage. MeWe displays every post, chat, comment, etc. made by your personal network in true timeline order with no interference.
Next on the list is Ello, “The Creators Network.” Ello is probably more like Pinterest than Facebook and was formed in 2014 for those who create or enjoy viewing artwork. Your feed on Ello is focused around your interests rather than around a friends’ list and all your posts are public. You can comment, like, repost, follow, buy, and sell content on Ello. Just like MeWe, Ello refuses to sell your data to advertiser or third parties and is ad-free. They also do not force you to use your real name, so you can remain untraceable.
The last one I will talk about this week is Diaspora. Diaspora is unique in the realm of social media platforms. Diaspora consists of many different networks, called pods. The pods are hosted on decentralized systems deployed by individuals in the open source community. It is also ad-free and focused on freedom and privacy. Like Facebook you can post status updates, share content, and leave comments on posts. Diaspora encourages users to report offensive content, but content is only censored with the approval of the pod administrators. The cool part about Diaspora is that, since it is decentralized, it cannot be owned by any one individual or corporation. You can even operate your own pod, which acts as a server in the network and allows you keep your data completely private. You can really own your own data and control who can see it. You can also completely remove your own pod with no trace back to the public content.