Ex-MySpace CTO Goes Toe-to-Toe With Facebook
Ex-MySpace CTO Goes Toe-to-Toe With Facebook
Posted 05/26/2011 at 11:45am
| by Brad Chacos
5
Comments
Print
Even though everybody and their grandmother has a Facebook account, not everybody and their grandmother loves the social media giant. There's been a lot of grumbling about Facebook's occasionally liberal "profits first" privacy policies. So if users don't like Facebook's policies, why don't they just stop using the service? Former MySpace CTO Dmitry Shapiro has a theory: because there aren't only good alternatives. Rather than simply whine about Facebook's drawbacks, Shapiro went out and raised funding from investors in order to create a new, privacy-friendly Facebook alternative named Altly.
On the Altly blog, Shapiro spewed fighting words while tossing his hat into the social media ring. "There is clearly nothing wrong with Facebook making money, as all business has to do," he posted. "What IS clearly wrong is when our privacy, our personal information, our digital lives are being subjugated for the sake of profit, without us having any meaningful capability to opt out, or even know the extent of such activity." And that's just a small snippet of Shapiro's wall o' text.
So can Altly make a dent in Facebook's userbase? We're not sure, but we think one of Shapiro's closing lines sums up the odds he's facing: "Please find us on Facebook."
More like this
5
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
stradric
May 27, 2011 at 7:42am
This is already a failure with a name like Altly. For one, it's not as easy to say as Facebook nor does it aptly define what it is as well as Facebook does. For another, it's definining itself as an alternative product, not a new and unique one. That means they will always rely on Facebook to exist for without Facebook, what the hell does it mean to be an alternative? As a marketing strategy, that is horrendous.
I find that some people are Facebook addicts while others just use it because that's the one that their friends use. It's a hard sell to your friends to have them switch their social profile to another service and have to relearn a new interface.
The simple solution is to NOT put sensitive information in your Facebook profile and only be friends with people you are actually friends with. Also people need to understand that posting on your wall is the social equivalent of driving through campus/town with a loudspeaker. A lot of the things people say on Facebook they would not scream from the roof of their house. Yet they do it all time.
whathuhitwasntme
May 27, 2011 at 3:26am
What so many of the critics seem to fail to grasp is that there is NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. The concept was given the acronym TANSTAFL by the late Robert Heinlein.
A social media "site" is there for profit, not altruism.
Any side benefit you garner by participating is pure chance.
To sit an cry how they should do this, and they shouldn't do that, is reminiscence of the fable by Aesop, you know the one where the mice voted that the cat should wear a bell around its neck. So it couldn't sneak up on them to kill and eat them. It's a fine idea for the mice, but why should the cat do it? Facebook, is the cat. It wants to eat your data, you want it to wear a bell and play nice. Now, which one of you will put the bell on the cat?
stradric
May 27, 2011 at 7:48am
> Any side benefit you garner by participating is pure chance.
It's hardly chance. The system is designed to provide utility to people.
Griedire
May 26, 2011 at 2:06pm
I hardly logon to Facebook any more mainly because of privacy concerns. But I also remember going from MySpace to Facebook because the clean layout. Currently I am keeping my eye on Diaspora for my next potential social network jump. But I am still open to other alternatives like Altly if they have a safe and clean environment.
Holly Golightly
May 26, 2011 at 12:02pm
I just reserved my name with Altly.
Although I hardly ever use FaceBook, like literally one every 2 or 3 months. I have been looking for a social network good enough, while protecting my right to privacy. Hopefully all of my friends can use this service to. Then I would say goodbye for ever to advertising hog FaceBook.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Original RickRoll Video Returns to YouTube After 24-Hour Copyright Hiatus http://t.co/MaH9Sxyy1 day 8 hours ago
- maximumpc: Corsair has decided not to go forward with its $78 million IPO, citing weak equity market conditions http://t.co/A5a4DAzj1 day 8 hours ago
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E3 days 6 hours ago
