Rethink

I have heard a lot in the media about the Arab Spring being called the “Facebook and Twitter revolutions.” I see this as great in terms of people taking control of technology and using it to create the change they want to see.

However I have a slight beef with Facebook, or rather, Facebook users. The willingness to give up so much private information is a little scary to me. Now I am also a Facebook user so I am critiquing myself as much as anybody, but didn’t people fight for the right to privacy in this country? Why is our generation so eager to share all of our personal data with a corporation like Facebook, who then makes it accessible to other corporations so that they can bombard us with targeted advertisements?

Facebook exploits the human need for social connection, and turns three-dimensional people into two-dimensional consumers.

This is why I was excited to hear about a new social media platform called Unthink. Unthink aims to dismantle the stronghold that Facebook has over the social media world and establish a new way of interacting with people online. It was created by Natasha Dedis, who read the terms and conditions of Facebook after her son wanted to join. She was appalled by what she read and then became motivated to create an alternative.

Unthink allows users to keep total control over all information and even allows users to specifically pick which brands, if any, they want to sponsor their pages. This fact alone has made me interested in the site, and while most of us can’t imagine life without Facebook, I have recently become more open to that idea. I’m not saying I have been converted quite yet, but I will be keeping my ears and eyes open for any new developments.

I suggest you check it out and see if its right for you.