

Brainstorm HN: How to Beat Facebook - Non-tech Strategies - jaytee_clone

Notes: I want to try out a brainstorm session on HN. The first topic came up in my mind was facebook, probably because it got so much coverage with the privacy issues and Diaspora etc.<p>Topic: Assume you are Diaspora (or any competitor), also assume that technical issues have been solved. What are some strategies to convert users from facebook?<p>Rule 1: Be as far-fetched as possible - quantity over quality<p>Rule 2: Only reply to someone's idea when you can build on top of it. If you really want to express that certain ideas won't work, start a separate comment with your explanation and an alternative idea.<p>For example: I will start with a few ideas in the comments below.
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jaytee_clone
Organize a national quit facebook day (Sept 1). Build website for it and ask
people to publicize the url in their facebook profile, status, twitter, etc.

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pedalpete
A good start.

I would also recommend going after a target market.

Apparently the current growth of Facebook is in the +35 demographic, so maybe
targetting University students at the start of the term would help.

Being the unfacebook doesn't just mean 'another place to share', it needs to
provide an alternative to just privacy.

Sewing the seeds of dissent by targetting University students who made
facebook what it is, and possibly are those that facebook is ignoring as it
goes forward.

This is one of the things I really like about diaspora. The four guys in the
video are exactly where Zuck was not long ago, but they have a better target
and purpose, though they still need help communicating what that vision is.

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jaytee_clone
Yeah, college students tend to be more rebellious too. Maybe they will even
organize delete-your-facebook parties. Getting one of these parties in the
media will be pretty effective PR.

Targeting school newspaper / TV station for that kind of PR is a good first
step.

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jaytee_clone
Build a tool so that a facebook user can scrape email addresses of her
friends, which can then be used to jump start a new social network.

