Will anti-Facebook social network Unthink REALLY spark a social media revolution?

unthink-screenshot.jpg

A new social network, which calls itself the ‘anti-Facebook’, is open to beta testers today and many are wondering whether the claims that it’s a much more honest and open platform than anything we’ve seen before are actually true.

The social network called Unthink is all about unthinking the idea of social media and gaining more control over our personal data and online lives. Unthink’s about page reads:

“UNTHINK is an all-in-one social media platform that enables you to connect with the world around you and collaborate with others to bring the change you want to see in the world.

“Our mission is to emancipate social media and unleash people’s extraordinary potential. Our -not so covert- mission is to spark a revolution that will change the world.”

It all sounds inspiring, but a bit cheesy and too good to be true, right?

Although we’re not sure whether it’ll really make a large number of Facebook’s 800 million users immediately ditch the most popular social network and opt for one which is much more about freedom, determination and rainbows, it’s good that a platform exists which seems to be about using online networks to create things, learn things and share things rather than see so many be made into pawns by businesses and advertisers.

However, just because Unthink is all about freedom and control it doesn’t mean the social network won’t open up a lot of new opportunities for brands. According to Techcrunch, users will own all of their data all of the time but can choose a brand to sponsor their page, which means they then become an advocate of that brand. Brands can also engage with users too, but the users have the control to decide which they want to hear from, what kinds of updates they want to hear and how often, which will be a welcome change for many.

It seems that Unthink will be the ideal haven for the “we hate big corporations” crowd who despise the thought of their data being used in advertising, but for everyone else for now it’s just interesting and could have potential in the future, once we can finally get an account, sign in and put it to the test.

Becca Caddy

4 comments

  • It won’t fly with the ” “we hate big corporations” crowd. You have to be sponsored by a brand (so far it’s just UnThink). Once brands sign up you have to align with a brand or pay to use UnThink and hide the ads.

    Privacy is a joke. Your profile picture (even the default) has your email address in the URL.

  • “It seems that Unthink will be the ideal haven for the “we hate big corporations” crowd who despise the thought of their data being used in advertising, …”

    I don’t think so. See my Google Plus stream for why.

    Quoting David Gerard: “All they have to do is not be Facebook. How hard can that be?”

Comments are closed.