The Social Network Saga: Enter Unthink.com

New social networking site Unthink.com launched its beta testing yesterday, following much hype and press coverage. Proudly branding itself as the ‘anti-Facebook’, Unthink.com offers itself as an open form of social networking where users communally share, create and build with one another, no longer subject to the harassment of invasive advertisements.

Natasha Dedis, Unthink’s founder and CEO, was inspired to create the new social media site when her son asked permission to create his own Facebook account, which led her to investigate the extensive terms, conditions and privacy agreements Facebook holds over each of its users.

Did you know that all intellectual property you post (you know, your pictures and videos) they own rights to? They could blow up your profile picture, edit it in Photoshop to make you wear a sombrero with taco in hand, put it on billboards all over Europe, and there would be nothing you could do about it…

Key dominant functions that Unthink boasts include the user’s ability to control…well…pretty much everything. From your newsfeed, to who you share each specific piece of information with and when, Unthink.com takes into account that each of us has a slightly different social appearance, catering to specific crowds. You may not necessarily want to share with your business colleagues those unnecessary pictures of you at the bar last night…

Each Unthink.com user page breaks down into four main categories: iUnthink (your space and blog), Social, Lifestyle, and Professional, allowing you to publish whatever you want to each one specifically at any time.

Challenging the thought of whom the content of social media sites belong to, Unthink attempts to reinvent the way people see and use modern social networking sites. In their ad launch campaign, they explain that their network is for the people, by the people, in that your information isn’t data mined and sent to agencies for their profit.

How, exactly, do they have a non-laughable business model, then?

The website has received over $2.5 million in funding, courtesy of DouglasBay Capital, has been in development for over three years, and staffs a team of more than 100 “techies and rebels.”

In its pledge to users, “Unthink regards you as a settler on the Unthink.com domain. It recognizes the value you bring to the network, and in exchange, it grants you ownership of your lot, and everything you build upon it.”
Instead of selling user information to corporations, users choose a brand to sponsor their page as a form of non-invasive advertising. Unthink.com only accepts businesses with ‘forward thinking’ models that are eco-conscious and socially responsible, making it easy for users to closely associate or happily pair with any given brand.

With all that being said, the question is: Are the ‘abuses’ of Facebook enough to get you to switch?

Vive la resistance!