Startup
Unthink.com, which bills itself as the “anti-Facebook,” is now allowing
in its first round of beta testers. The Tampa-based company sees itself
as a more open, more honest form of social networking – one where its
users are the owners of their data, and not the product being sold to
advertisers. CEO Natasha Dedis said the idea for Unthink came to her
when her son wanted to sign up for Facebook and she read the terms of
service. On Facebook, your personal data, your posts, your likes – all
your social networking activity – is used to provide advertisers with a
way to directly target precise demographics. Dedis and others say that
just feels exploitive. On Unthink, user data isn’t sold to brands.
Instead, users choose a brand to sponsor their page, by way of an ad
dubbed “iEndorse.” The idea is that a user will select a brand they feel
some affinity with, and will then become an advocate for that brand.
Users who don’t want to select a brand have the option to pay for the
service instead at $2 a year.
