The problem isn’t that it’s impossible to create a profitable, privacy-focused social network that supports free speech while also protecting people from harassment.
It’s that the current platforms don’t seem to have any incentive to do that.
Part of the issue is that mining and monetizing people’s data has been so damn profitable. Therefore, the more data you can gather, the more you can sell and the happier your shareholders are.
Let’s be real, Facebook has no real assets beyond our attention and our data. They’ve been unable to come up with a monetization strategy that doesn’t handsomely reward them for deeply invading into our privacy.
The same is true for Google. Every bit and byte of data that you give to Google is used to assemble an advertising profile of you. This includes everything you search for and interact with across the entire Google network (Google, Maps, Youtube, Gmail, etc)
With the introduction of voice activated assistants, Amazon has joined this illustrious group of spies companies.
Each of these companies have become masterful at using the data that they collect to show you ever more relevant ads (or products), and in many cases have been more than willing to give advertisers access to your information.
The more you learn about the privacy practices of these large data-driven companies, the more concerning it becomes. The hoops you must jump through in order to protect your privacy is mind-boggling including VPNs, sandboxes, private browsing, do not track settings, and deleting apps from your phone. It’s become staggeringly complex.
There is, however, one company that has shown a commitment to privacy, with a solid, vertically-integrated product offering capable of replacing nearly each and every one of these tools. This is the sole company with the capabilities, the infrastructure, the business model, and the funds to save us from a truly awful dystopian future: Apple.
Apple already has all of the tools, albeit many need vast improvements to be truly competitive. But, more importantly, they have the brand and business model that supports their ability to build the social network I’m about to describe. Building this network is a way to get people even more invested in the Apple eco-system (i.e buy more hardware).
While I believe that something like this would be profitable, I also think this move has the capacity to boldly reshape the web as we know it.
I believe that we have reached a point where people yearn for an option that respects our privacy and gives us the ability to connect with our friends and family on our terms.
I believe that the rise of toxic social media behavior is making us unwell as a society, and much of that has to do with the incentive structure of these networks.
We must have an alternative to the existing platforms who have an inherent conflict between fighting hate speech and harassment while their algorithms favor activity and who invade more of our privacy as their advertising requires it.
This is not a short term plan but if anyone has the ability to change the current course we are on, it’s Apple. So, keep in mind that what I’m about to describe is probably a 5-year plan, or potentially longer. Facebook and Google will not sit on the sidelines. Apple should double down on privacy and build this platform.
Me.com: A Prologue
The Infrastructure
Before getting into the features of this proposed social network, it’s important to go over the factors of why this is feasible.
Apple already has everything it needs to support this endeavor. ANY other company would have to start from scratch, including building a brand that respects privacy.
Hardware
Apple has the hardware and because privacy is built into their hardware, Apple is the only company that could do this. They have iPhone, iPad, MacBooks, iMacs, AppleTV, and Homepod. I’ll explain how AppleTV and HomePod come in later.
Safari & iCloud
…and the possibility of iCloud Pro
Apple also has the beginnings of their own the online ecosystem, which is essential for this platform to exists. Ask anyone who has tried to ditch Google how difficult it is when your browser is Chrome, your email and calendar are through Gmail and you search through Google.com.
Apple already has a pretty decent suite of tools: Email, Contacts, Calendars, Notes, Reminders, Drive, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and iMessage. They should continue working on the web versions of each of these apps.
Apple has a solid web browser in Safari which is both fast and has excellent security features.
Me.com should be used to build this social network and they should introduce iCloud Pro as a Google Apps competitor with a robust suite of additional business tools and the ability to use your own domains.
