
Anybeat - a Facebook alternative that respects your privacy? - ColinWright
http://www.anybeat.com/beta
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todd3834
Anybeat was formally Altly which did intend to become a Facebook alternative.
Once Google+ launched they realized that Google+ is positioning themselves as
an alternative to Facebook and made a major pivot which included the name
change. The new focus is not to be an alternative to Facebook at all. Facebook
and Google+ will more than likely remain the place where people go to
socialize online with people whom they already know including their personal
and business relationships. However, Anybeat's focus is entirely on meeting
new people who you do not already know in the physical world. Yes, pseudonyms
are supported but not forced and are really only a small aspect of their
focus. Other features which I find the most enjoyable but not often mentioned
are the Interests Roulette which pairs you up to chat with random people on
the site based on similarities. Also, the public square which is a place to
have conversations about topics you are interested in with people you have
never met. Public square is very much like a forum but having that
functionality within more of a social network type environment leads to some
really interesting interactions.

Bloggers and tech media love to try and spin Anybeat as a Facebook killer, or
alternative because it sounds like such a juicy story and in fact has some
truth in the history of the company. However, the vision of Anybeat is much
different than Altly and whether people want to acknowledge it or not they are
really going after a totally different type of interaction than both Facebook
and Google+

For anyone who wants to see something besides the login screen, here is a link
I found on Techcrunch for some beta invites
<http://www.anybeat.com/ia/4e6d1ab62caca06253000024>

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OoTheNigerian
'Privacy' is NOT a killer app.

Unfortunately, the reality is most people using Facebook do not care so much
about privacy as the media wants you to believe If they did, they would not be
putting a hundred pictures of 'last night' up on Facebook to show their
hundreds of friends which is one 'share' away

Build a great product. It is all that matters.

The 'our Facebook' link at the bottom explains why you cannot beat facebook at
its game.

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ethank
Anybeat reminds me more of the chat room scene in AOL or IRC or Compuserve and
the like in the early 90's. The chance of serendipitous encounters focused
around topics and chance.

This appealed to me a lot more when I was 13 however.

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cheald
Here's the problem. To be a "Facebook alternative", you need to have the
people. It's not an alternative until it's useful as one.

Privacy and data ownership are great features, but they aren't products.

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mike-cardwell
"A Facebook alternative"... Really?

"We don't expect Anybeat to replace Facebook" - <http://www.anybeat.com/about>

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hugh3
Makes sense. Saccharine is a sugar alternative, and I don't expect saccharine
to replace sugar.

~~~
nvictor
totally agree. carob is a chocolate alternative, and i don't expect carob to
replace chocolate.

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dmitryshapiro
I am the CEO of Anybeat and happy to answer any questions :)

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plq
the true facebook killer is going to be a "social markup" standard and its
many implementations that has the potential to surpass the power the facebook
platform gives to the advertiser, not another centralized service. (note how
hosting your own social hub elegantly solves any privacy concerns you might
have) given the amount of work that goes towards this (not much), I don't
think facebook has much to worry about.

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clemst
Yet another Facebook alternative? Seriousely? I'm all for competition, but
between diaspora, G+, unthink, now this ...

