With a proclamation of sorts, Unthink, the newest start-up social networking site that plans to dethrone the evil chains of Facebook, launched last week. It claims to give users the right to own their data and asserts that freedom and emancipation are the keys to their site. Will Unthink give users the right to privacy and security?
Declaring a big “FU” – literally – to Facebook and Google +, Unthink launched onto the scene with a bang when it rolled out its beta version on October 25. PCMag was unable to access the site the following day because of server overload. Since that time, Unthink has tripled its server space and it already has 100,000 active users, according to TechCrunch.
So what is all the hype about? Well a few thousand miles from Palo Alto, CA in Tampa Bay, FL, Unthink has dubbed itself the “anti Facebook,” priding itself as being the antithesis of everything Zuckerberg’s social ecosystem stands for. A startup funded with $2.5 million from DouglasBay Capital, Unthink wants users to literally unlearn all they know about social networking. According to TechCrunch, CEO Natasha Dedis started the network because she was disgusted after fine-combing through Facebook’s Terms of Service when her son wanted to join the site. She learned that Facebook basically mandates itself to do whatever it wants with user content and data and also reserves the right to change its mind about the TOS at, well, anytime.
At an “unconference” before the launch, Dedis is quoted, “The number one thing that had to be ‘un-thought’ about social media, is who does it belong to? We need to own everything that we put on our page. We can be as private or as public as we want, as long as it’s our choice.”
Unthink users own all of their data and they can also opt out of advertising altogether if they pay a small annual fee of $2. The network also offers easy to use and manageable privacy controls that determine how a user interacts with advertisers and other users. When engaging with a brand, users earn points towards discounts and other deals from the company.
The profile or “suite” is divided into four different sections: a public microblog called iUnthink (think Twitter), a social section (think Facebook), a section that’s used for interacting with the advertisers (think Facebook Pages and other blogs), and a professional section (think LinkedIn). And of course, all these section on your suite are similar to your Google + circles. Check out a tour of the suite.
Sarah Perez of TechCrunch has said that Unthink is Disapora done right. But it is too soon to tell as Unthink is only in its second week of infancy. But if you are tired of the privacy shenanigans on other social networks, unthink your ways and check out Unthink. Let us know how you feel about the site if you use it!
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[…] Other social networks both big and small – think everything from Google + to Diaspora to Unthink – have made a effort to combat these privacy issues that are so prevalent at the core of […]