I hate facebook.

Ok, let me go into some more detail.

Facebook does sell your information, it uses your information to sell targeted adverts, have you not seen the 'are you x years old then get this free' when they very well know your x years old.

Anyway, onto the other replies:

I am actually a respected website designer, I have contributed to jquery, firefox and wordpress. Aswell as some less well known open source projects.

I will be able to develop a social network that does the minimalist things facebook does, I am not saying it will instantly be superior to facebook, but it will be a alternative. Sure I will not have apps instantly, nor API's. This will come at a later stage.

As for your information being pretty damn easy to get hold of... I can code an api which as soon as you click the lovely 'facebook connect' link on my site, I can find out all your personal details.

 

No way you are going to win this with a social networking site. You cant compete with a multi-billion dollar website like facebook.

 

The government has all my data from when I was born anyway, so what have I got to hide now?

 

Your government doesn't give it out publicly.

 

I don't have a profile, mainly because I don't want my boss looking at what I get up to at the weekends. I don't feel any hatred towards it, though lol.

 

I make my living off it, so I am slightly more passionate about it

As for the 'no way can you take on a multi billion dollar company' well then, you are inside a box, and will never succeed in life as long as you have that attitude.

Facebook was started in a frigging dorm at Harvard, many companies have made it with next to no money and I could do the same. If enough people want something new (Which they do) then there is room for it, and it will become popular. Take the blinkers off.

 

I'm being realistic. Facebook took years to turn into something, and it also had a unique design. Back then, the only social network was myspace, and not everyone used it. Now, everyone uses either facebook, or myspace (with myspace being the dying of the two).

Honestly, facebook has the perfect design for a social network. If you honestly think, people will be leaving facebook to join a new social network leaving their friends list/hundreds of images behind, then you are sadly mistaken.

This venture of yours will be a complete waste of time, even if you want to cover it up with "thinking outside the box" bull shit.

 

I love facebook, but yeah giving all of your personal information really helps to invasion of privacy in my opinion.

 

Right. The main attraction of Facebook now is that everyone uses it. Attracting people to a new site that doesn't have a lot of people on it yet is hard.

 

This.

I used to use myspace but most of my friends are over it so I switched to Facebook and I agree that it is great but the privacy factor doesn't really apply here. A fair few pedo's have tried to add me

 

I'm going to delete mine soon, all I see people post is song lyrics and some other stupid shit.

 

I honestly LOVE facebook, so do all my friends, were pretty much hooked. lol.....

 

Facebook is evil. Right now, your information's being fed into every computer mainframe, satellite, laptop, and supermarket scanner that makes up the Global conspiracy known as...The Beast.

 

As I was reading this, I thought it was going to be stupid, but then I lol'd.

 

Why the hell do you all have a problem with Facebook using the information you happily provided to them? They are supplying a free service, and have every right to utilise what you have given them.

If you have a problem, don't post sensitive information. Or, better still, don't join up at all if it bothers you.

 

you cant delete it. It just disables it untill the next time you log in/ AKA, you can only log out

 

To be honest, Facebook is nothing in comparative terms to Google. I believe Google are currently being sued in the UK (and abroad too, probably) for illegally collecting the unencrypted information sent out from unsecured WI-FI networks in the UK as part of their street-view project (which in my opinion is also a massive invasion of privacy). Good luck though, I have voted for you on your link.

 

They are in trouble for that everywhere. Apparently it was a mix up and they were attempting to collect all the info that they obtained and hand it over to some government. >_>.

 

People moved from myspace from facebook when it was shit, as will people from facebook to whatever else there is when facebooks privacy goes even more tits up.

As for 'my friends wont be on this new site, why should I go to it?'

I will be using Facebooks own API to integrate your pico profile with your Facebook profile + friends, you will be able to chat to your Facebook friends, drop them messages, post on your wall and more.

Facebook is not perfect, its brilliant, I wont deny that, and they have made some real leaps and bounds technologically, but there is room for improvement, and that improvement cant come until there is a no commercial driven product.

Thank you deseaux

Precisely, they are trying to make money, which I understand, but they are also taking advantage. Which I do not like, so I wish to start something better, for the public good, not for anyone's pocket.

Blindkilla, you clearly are trying to be realistic, which I appreciate, and I understand there is a need to be in some scenarios, but the current social network situation is definitely far from perfect, and there is definitely a niche. In the same way people turned from myspace/bebo with the 'mob' mentality, I believe the same could truly happen to facebook if it suffers another major privacy failure, however this will only happen if they have somewhere to turn to...

 

There is a problem with this though, in order to advertise your site surely this means paying into these corporations you disagree so strongly with? Sure, people may wish to turn away but in order for them to know about your network you are going to have to do some serious advertising and that means paying into sites such as Facebook. It's a nice idea but realitically probably won't catch on and if you do choose to pay a site such a Facebook for advertising space and your site dies away all you have done is strengthen your opposition.