http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-02-15/news/the-facebook-killers/

"Mr. Zuckerberg has attained an unenviable record," Moglen said of the founder of Facebook. "He has done more harm to the human race than anybody else his age."

Why? Because, Moglen said, Mark Zuckerberg had harnessed the energy of our social desires to talk us into a swindle. "Everybody needs to get laid," Moglen said. "He turned it into a structure for degenerating the integrity of human personality, and he has to a remarkable extent succeeded with a very poor deal. Namely, 'I will give you free Web hosting and some PHP doodads, and you get spying for free all the time.'"

It was hardly the first time this sort of critique had been leveled against Facebook, but Moglen wasn't just carping.

"I'm not suggesting it should be illegal," Moglen told the audience of the Internet Society of New York. "It should be obsolete. We're technologists. We should fix it."

....

Given the current time frame, it's entirely possible that Facebook's public offering could take place the same day that the Federated General Assembly or Global Square launch their first rough versions. Nobody expects these early iterations, or even the somewhat more polished alternative of Diaspora*, to make Facebook or its investors so much as blink anytime soon.

But Moglen cautions patience.

"Free software moves more slowly because there isn't any money in it," Moglen says. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't eventually get there. Facebook can only give people what it's already given them. But in the future, they can have all of that, plus the privacy they'd like. It's true: People will give up freedom for convenience, but if you give them both, eventually, they choose the option with freedom."

Boyer isn't convinced that any of these new social networks will lead Facebook to collapse in the near future.

"I think it's possible that Facebook will still be around in five years, and even in 10," Boyer says. "But I'd like to see it recede into only being used for that single, simple purpose that it ultimately serves very well, which I continue to use it for: finding that person that I met a million years ago. The rest of it, we can do better."

Moglen is less cautious.

"The thesis behind the Facebook IPO is we now have 1 billion people trapped, and soon we'll have 2 billion," Moglen says. "But that's not going to happen. We're going to have federated social networking in a matter of months—probably more than 12 but a lot less than 120. So somewhere between 12 and 120 months from now, Facebook is going to cease to exist."

https://www.joindiaspora.com/

hmm

I understand people who just don't like facebook. That's okay. I don't like ginger snaps. We can get along.

I do not like overly dramatic whining about things that someone just doesn't like. It's a low-brow attempt at getting others to agree with you.

Instead, maybe he should find his self-worth from somewhere else? Hmm?

Well, I like facebook. If it wasn't for facebook, I would have never have given my boyfriend a chance, in fact I would be still single. To me facebook has been very socialable for me, I've gotten in touch with family on a regular basis, and usually I wouldn't have and they would have all fallen through the cracks.

This is very much like TV v's Theatre again.

Sometimes people who are perceived as overly dramatic or alarmist turn out to be proven correct later.  Not saying this guy is, but it's a possibility.  

Also I like the "let's fix the technology rather than pass new laws" approach.  We are smart.  Let's fix it.  *nods*

I don't think privacy issues are overly-dramatic but I understand younger people have different views on this / weren't around when it was more respected.

It's not privacy issues that I think are over dramatic. It's statements like... "He has done more harm to the human race than anybody else his age."

That's hell-mongering. That's not productive at all. 

I read a quote about FB being around to make people jealous.

I certainly think there are negatives, but there is not other easy way to stay in touch with friends that are from other countries and those I haven't been in touch with. So I love it.

Ok I can see your point there blessedwhitney!

The children of Hamlin had to follow the pied piper, too. Else he'd have been called the lonely flautist. ;-)

"Else he'd have been called the lonely flautist."

Sounds like a personal problem to me...  *big eyes, grins*

<relurk>

@Shannon Ha yeah I don't have a problem with wanting more privacy. :)

@egiyablu I read something like that, too... that facebook is making people depressed. I must be an exception because when I go online and see all my friends having a good time or posting funny pictures, I get really happy, not jealous. It makes me feel like, even though I'm stuck in bed with a stomach bug, I still get to catch up with my BFF (original plan for today). 

Well I thought this was also interesting in light of discussing "duck face" girls a year or so ago.. basically all the gals on fb posing typical girls gone wild pics.. as well as how they become owned by facebook and can come back to bite you in the butt..

There's this gal running this blog with a very interesting approach and she actually decides to out herself;

http://www.theunlost.com/life-in-general/stuff-stupid-college-girls-do/

Makes me think that the youth may just save our ass.. after having messed a lot of it up.

There will be another choice that is like facebook but without the spying.. and it won't be seeing the opposition as haters that will make people switch. It will be something that crosses a big line. Like the article mentions.. it will launch just when that line is crossed. I find this very uranus/pluto. And I REALLY hope they pull it off. I'm not a fan of being advertised to 24/7. I find it all way too invasive.