Slashdot Mirror
Encrypted Social Network Vies For Disgruntled Facebook Users
angry tapir writes "With the look of Google Plus and Facebook-like elements, a new social network named "Syme" feels as cozy as a well-worn shoe. But beneath the familiar veneer, it's quite different. Syme encrypts all content, such as status updates, photos and files, so that only people invited to a group can view it. Syme, which hosts the content on its Canada-based servers, says it can't read it. "The overarching goal of Syme is to make encryption accessible and easy to use for people who aren't geeks or aren't hackers or who aren't cryptography experts," co-founder Jonathan Hershon said in an interview about the service." See also Diaspora.
A truly free social network would have no ads, no profit motive, no logs, no intrusion; just a way for people to share as much or as little with only those they wish to share with.
Is there really no true libre social network, and if not, why not?
Money.
Facebook and Google don't do the things they do simply because they are evil. They do it because that;s how they get the money to pay for those giant buildings full of servers that they run, which provide the services you use.
Maybe in the 24th century when The Federation is building starships, colonizing the galaxy and zooming around the universe, all without any apparent need for money, they can also build your "no ads, no profit motive" social network.
well, if they're looking to woo disgruntled users, then slashdot is a great place to advertise!
Yeah, I understand Economics 101. I also understand that Firefox, Linux, Wikipedia, Apache, PHP, etc. are not all about the money (thought money is tied to most of them extraneously; but not really at all to Wikipedia).
There are these things called non-profits. A non-profit social network seems like a no-brainer, and I'm not sure why it doesn't exist; let alone rule them all.
A non-profit social network could show ads... to people who felt like seeing them. Money gets made (enough to buy servers & connectivity), but the profit itself isn't the core motive. And the users are not product.
you have no right to violate my privacy as i tell the world about everything in my entire life!
The discussion here is about sharing within a controlled group.