Dubbed the “anti-Facebook,” newly launched social network Unthink aims to free users from the bonds of corporate money-making by giving them complete control over their personal data.
There’s a new social network in town, and it bills itself as everything Facebook’s not. Unthink.com, which opened up registration today for an initial round of beta users, says it is the “anti-Facebook,” and vows to give users complete control over their personal data.
Unthink, which is based in Tampa, Florida, came out swinging, with a manifesto that vows to “emancipate social media,” along with a promotional video that literally says “FU” to Facebook andGoogle+ for making money by “spying – yes, spying” on users and bombarding users with ads, among other grievances.
According to Unthink chief executive Natasha Dedis, the idea for a new kind of social network came to her in 2007, when her son asked to join Facebook. After reading Facebook’s terms and conditions, as well as the terms of MySpace (which reigned king of social media at the time), Dedis said in an interview with SixEstate that she realized that these companies were operating under a business logic that was “totally irrational and exploitative.”
“…I felt that they were basically taking my son hostage,” said Dedis. “He was giving them a perpetual license to do whatever they wanted, they could change the terms at any time. So I thought, ‘Oh my god, in the real world, no business could ask its clients to enter into such a legal relationship. So how is this even legal on the Web?’ It just baffled me.”
Unthink attempts to tackle the exploitation problem in a number of different ways. First, Unthink makes all user data private by default. Users may then allow others to see the information they want public, and keep private anything they want private. Next, Unthink doesn’t sell user data to companies. Instead, users can choose to have specific brands “sponsor” their pages. Any users who don’t want corporate sponsorship can pay a $2-a-year fee to use the service. In addition, Unthink users may choose how brands communicate with them via a section that’s totally separate from their regular information stream.
As we see it, Unthink faces an inconceivably difficult uphill battle against Facebook and Google+. At the same time, however, Unthink’s servers are, at the time of this writing, completely overwhelmed by the bombardment of traffic headed to the site today. While some may see that as evidence that the company is unprepared for the big leagues, it at least shows that people are interested in a Facebook alternative – something we saw in droves with the launch of Google+.
We’ll definitely be exploring Unthink more in the coming days. In the mean time, check out Unthink’s in-your-face promo video, and let us know what you think of, er, Unthink:
Original post by: Andrew Couts
Posted by: Shane Barker
Great post, Shane. I knew NOTHING about this network! I'm gonna head over there tonight and see if I an get on there. Assuming the traffic deluge lets up a little. I'm an artist and I like the idea of Unthink. Yeah they have an uphill battle but if everyone just gave up at the outset a lot of the true innovation that comes from competition would be lost. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of spin they put on the social network game.
Hey John, Thanks for connecting man! I agree...competition is the best thing for any business. It helps us to think out of the box (i.e. Unthink). It keeps the juices flowing! Talk to you soon man! Shane
This is a great initiative -- it maybe even better than Diaspora, as that one requires you to maintain your own server (so it'll forever be geeks-only, which is a shame). The Facebook terms of service are one of the many reasons why I deleted my Facebook account. It's terrible for artists especially, since they claim excessive rights over anything you post there. That means you can't really use Facebook to showcase your work.
That is the crazy reality of Facebook. I can't imagine being an artist and somebody else having "excessive rights" over anything I post. The lesson here: Stay alert and always read the "Terms of Services" before joining any site. Cheers, Shane