Amidst all my disdain about facebooks privacy-, ethics values, or rather lack thereof
people asked: Which social network do you recommend?
Well, I really liked a few; but without a solid plan to receive a return on investment and view towards the future encompassing growth with users -not at cost of users or users as commercial commodity-, most initiatives I liked folded over time.
The safe answer at this point is: invest in your domain name and self-hosted (preferably) blog.
But! There is a reason we flock to social networks and community fora.
- The infrastructure is there, we needn’t worry about technical details, just input our information and strike up a conversation!
- Conversation! Interaction! – we can share our message/views with people and they can share theirs.
- Discovery! We will see and share things we otherwise wouldn’t have or as expediently.
So what are you to do?
You find a social network that shares the same values regarding privacy and morals/ethics and keep a good eye on their Terms of Service – Their product road map and public announcements (if they share this) – their privacy policy and hope to whichever deity you adhere to/write letters of dismay to, that they don’t join the dark side.
At this point the only still viable option -to me- outside of well managed diaspora nodes– is ello. this me on ello
There are of course hybrid construction possibilities such as artstation -a community and portfolio site – around a theme or skill and the maker communities fora/portfolio sites.
If you have a great alternative(s), feel free to recommend other options.