The reason why you should leave FaceBook and try some other alternatives
It is not today that the social network FaceBook has been suffering several harsh criticisms about how to keep the data of its users safe. In addition, there are also many criticisms regarding the autonomy and independence that the user actually has within the social network. Here are some articles on this:
Facebook fuels broad privacy debate by tracking non-users
This is how Facebook collects data on you even if you don’t have an account
Facebook sued over collection of mobile call and text data
These are just some of the publicly disclosed problems ...
Now I will begin my personal account of my experience with FaceBook. I joined FaceBook in 2010. And before that, I already had some years of Orkut (Orkut was a very popular social network in Brazil, around de 90’s decade). I really liked the interaction that Orkut provided, and as I was aware of the popularization and great increase of users in FB, I registered in it as well. Well, at first it looked pretty good. I was able to connect to many subjects that interested me, to friends, and so on... the majority of whom I added to FB was people which I met in the own network, not in person.
However, after a few years, I began to notice some very strange things in FB's posts. And this started mostly on the eve of the Brazilian elections in 2014. Apart from the basics about strange or anomalous ads appearing on our timeline, I began to see that FB's postings had a very strict limiting structure. For example, I clearly remember, and I believe it is so to this day, that if you comment on a page with many members / followers, the chances of seeing your comment is minimal. What I discovered when trying to comment on a FB page of Aécio Neves was that besides my comment did not appear as recent, only my own friends could visualize it and enjoy it. I remember doing the following test several times: I commented on the page and / or a very visualized and followed post, opened another browser, entered the same link without logging into any account, and tried to find my own comment. I never succeeded in finding him. I though it was weird that in commenting on such high commented posts, I didnt receive any like or reply. (Update: Today, it seems that FB simply dont put the most recent posts at the top by default, you have to select this in a dialog box near the comments section).
Another issue that bothered me a lot: it was impossible to find groups of the FB with more than 1 million members. Incidentally, maybe more at the beginning, this was possible, but it seems that the FB prevents the groups from reaching very large sizes. I think they do this to limit people's interactions, and somehow control the flow of content to large numbers of users.
The FaceBook search bar is extremely limited. Most of the time you can not return to content you've viewed before.
If you do not know how to configure your privacy options correctly, and I do not remember this issue being handled properly by FB itself, you run the risk of being put in strange groups, tagged in unauthorized photos or strange postings / comments, and this will appear on your timeline, and most likely in your friends' news feed.
The other day, I wanted to share in FB a very interesting video. I copied the link, and I pasted in the groups that I'm in, and that I consider related to the subject of the video. After the fifth share, FB no longer let me post in the groups. Even in moderated groups where the moderator needs to approve the content earlier.
Now I would like to address a subject that I consider to be the most important one: FB does not seem to give a damn about us, as content producers, and as owners of our personal data. They say: "Enter the FB, it's free, you can connect to all your friends and etc ...", but when filling in your personal information and registering with FB, you are making your data available to the platform. Such data is yours and non-transferable. And then you start adding family, friends, all your contacts, interests, photos, videos and etc ... also get to like pages, comments and react in posts and etc ... all this is a perfectly accessible database for the platform controllers, in the way that they deem most timely. But it is worth remembering that these data are all yours, both as producers of them, as their suppliers in the network. And now we ask: should users not have a fairer counterpart by sharing, producing and making available all of those contents in the networks and the FB? For example, FB could cede a percentage of its revenues from ads. Or FB could give some feedback to a post you created and which you got a lot of views, likes, and / or shares. Anyway, all this could be different in this sense.
In analyzing this, we assume that FB is a super-traditional business model, and that it is set up to achieve huge amounts of profits for few people. It remains a concentrator of income at the expense of the vast majority. Of course, by registering you agree to their terms. But perhaps a lot of our lack of awareness of how a social network should really be, is because FB has never had a rival to its height. Well, at least not yet.
To begin to really understand what a fairer, more equal and balanced social network should be, we should look at some interesting alternatives that have been appearing in recent years. We must look at how these alternative ones work: how they treat their users, their data and how they are configured on the internet.
A trend that has been gaining momentum, even more so since the advent of Blockchain, the crypto-coins and Bitcoin, is the issue of decentralization. Give greater freedom and autonomy to network users, and seek to decentralize data stores. Well let's start now list some interesting alternatives as well as some of its main features:
Steemit
Well, if you're reading this text, you already are on Steemit's website. Steemit is a social network in Blog format, where you can follow other users, be followed too, you can follow a Posts Feed, you can share them and etc ... just like in FB.
However, the big difference is in the connection of the platform with the cryptocurrency Steem. In your Steemit account, you will have a certain limit of Steem Power, which is used when you vote for other content (analogous to FB's likes). Steem Power regenerates over time. When you transfer some of it to the posts you vote for, that post will receive more relevance, and the author will receive some Steem units based on the number of votes they received. Also when you resteem a post (analogous to sharing in FB), you share that post to your followers. You can also earn Steems by voting on posts that will become popular later. By being one of the first to vote, you will also earn something in proportion to the votes cast later. Thus, users of the network influence with their votes, contents, and authors of the network.
The user can then redeem their Steems to use them both inside the platform, as well as to withdraw to an external virtual wallet and use in other transactions.
It is a very practical way of giving some feedback to those who produce quality content on the network.
Minds
Like Steemit, the Minds.com platform presents itself as an alternative social network with a high degree of user empowerment. Working very similarly to Steemit, in Minds you can share and recommend content. You can get rewards in the form of Minds Tokens while participating in the platform: you can earn tokens by registering, posting, approving, commenting, decoding and etc ... These tokens are accepted within the platform itself for services like Boost, Wire, Plus and more ... Basically Boost is a content promotion service within the platform: you promote any content to have more visibility. Wire is a crowdfunding and P2P payment tool, which allows you to send your tokens to other initiatives within the platform. And Plus is a paid subscription from Minds.com, you pay for it with your own tokens and you get some extra benefits.
The look and design of Minds is impressive, much more eye-catching than Steemit's. If you want to be able to receive rewards in the form of tokens, you should confirm your phone at the registration screen. Minds also provides a real-time chat, their messenger, which makes it clear that the messages are encrypted and much better protected than the FB's messenger.
MeWe
The MeWe network is also growing as an option to FaceBook. According to its website, its strength is the privacy and protection of users' data. On their frequently asked questions site are several explanations about Mewe, like this:
What is MeWe?
MeWe is the world’s private communication network. We turn the table on Facebook and other social media companies with a revolutionary service that emphasizes privacy and social sharing where people can be their true, uncensored selves. No spying. No cookies. No data sharing.
The platform also promises freedom of sharing, improved permissions system, where the user can configure who can see what, store their content in the cloud and more.
Diaspora*
I left this suggestion and analysis last because the Diaspora * network has something very strong in terms of decentralization. On the site itself, they mention that their strengths are: Decentralization, Freedom and Privacy:
Decentralization:
Instead of everyone’s data being held on huge central servers owned by a large organization, diaspora* exists on independently run servers (“pods”) all over the world. You choose which pod to register with, and you can then connect seamlessly with the diaspora* community worldwide.
Freedom:
You can be whoever you want to be in diaspora. Unlike some networks, you don’t have to use your real identity. You can interact with people in whatever way you choose. The only limit is your imagination. diaspora is also Free Software, giving you liberty over how you use it.
Privacy:
In diaspora* you own your data. You don’t sign over rights to a corporation or other interest who could use it. In addition, you choose who sees what you share, using Aspects. With diaspora*, your friends, your habits, and your content is your business ... not ours!
This idea of decentralizing data is the same as torrent files. Such a form of data storage is the most protected, free and efficient in a network environment.
It is also worth mentioning that the site has very complete tutorial, you can access it here.
And a curiosity about the name chosen for the platform, taken from the site:
The word “diaspora” refers to the dispersal of seeds (or people) over a wide area. That’s why our motif is the dandelion, and the asterisk in our name represents a fluffy dandelion seed. We refer to individual accounts on diaspora* as “seeds,” and the servers in which those accounts are collected as “pods.” You’ll get used to it soon!
Conclusion:
Social networks need to evolve and develop in order to decentralize and dilute to reach all layers of the people of the world. They need to offer more individual and collective empowerment options: so much the individual profiles as the group pages need improvement, to have a more pure, efficient and broad interaction. Of course, they need to make it clear that users are the real owners of their content and information provided.
If you really are not satisfied with FaceBook, as I believe is the case for many people right now, something you can do now is to test one of these different social networks, and see what you feel best about. Spread it, promote it on the FB itself if possible. This will bring about some important changes and debates.
I could not close this post without mentioning an important link I found during my research to write this entire text. A very useful tool for our analysis of social networks:
I hope I have provided you with good material for you to think about and deepen.
Thank you all!