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A Call For an Open, Distributed Alternative To Facebook
qwerty8ytrewq writes "Ryan Singel, writing for Wired, claims that Facebook has gone rogue: 'Facebook used to be a place to share photos and thoughts with friends and family and maybe play a few stupid games that let you pretend you were a mafia don or a homesteader. It became a very useful way to connect with your friends, long-lost friends and family members. ... And Facebook realized it owned the network. Then Facebook decided to turn "your" profile page into your identity online — figuring, rightly, that there’s money and power in being the place where people define themselves. But to do that, the folks at Facebook had to make sure that the information you give it was public.' Singel goes on to call for an open, distributed alternative. 'Facebook’s basic functions can be turned into protocols, and a whole set of interoperating software and services can flourish. Think of being able to buy your own domain name and use simple software such as Posterous to build a profile page in the style of your liking.' Can Slashdotters predict where social networking is going? And how?"
Relatedly, jamie points out a graphical representation of how Facebook's privacy settings have changed over the last five years.
Facebook is simply a dating site that connects people with romantic prospects they already know. If you ain't look'n for new tail, you've really got no business using facebook.
(writing random text towards the end of this post is necessary for slashdot's edit window to work in Safari)
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
I think it's funny that you seriously think email is an acceptable replacement for a social-networking site. Maybe it is for you, which is fine, but you aren't everybody.
You know mods this isn't offtopic, it's actually a legit response.