An alternative to Facebook?

Is Facebook really worth $100 billion? And, if so, how much would it be worth in 2013 after everyone migrates to a competitor’s website that guarantees not to invade their privacy?

Couldn’t any techie with a few computers and a case of Red Bull start up a nonprofit alternative to Facebook, legally promising in its charter full privacy protection for users and non-tracking of clicks, and yet with the identical ability to post and share photos, messages, and the like? And still make money on passive ads targeted to the demographic of “people who use social media” (i.e., ads for computers, cell phones, cameras, etc)? With 900 million people or more, a nonprofit website could easily cover its costs with the old-fashioned passive ads—and no tracking.

Wouldn’t this alternative cause current Facebook users to migrate en masse to this new site? All you have to do is tell your 466 friends on Facebook that there’s a place where you won’t have to worry about being spied on and “monetized,” and all make the leap in the same week. (Try censoring that, Facebook.)

Have you ever used Craigslist? Craigslist’s founders have led by example. They weren’t interested in “monetizing” the website so as to become insanely rich. They decided to make all their money on very small and defined subsets of ads (primarily job openings in New York City and other large metropolitan cities), leaving the rest to be free, as we all want them to be. And Craigslist’s founders are successful to this day, with enough money to retire many times over. And all with smiling service.

Facebook is not rocket science. The technology employed is garden-variety stuff available to any of the millions of techies who want to replicate it. After all, what do people do on social media? They blab, post images, send messages, and hit “like” buttons. Have I forgotten anything?

Facebook has no secret recipe, no “must have” patents, no brilliant technological innovation. And it certainly has a horrible track record for customer service. It doesn’t have to be the “only game in town.” The value of Facebook depends entirely on everyone believing that the emperor is wearing clothes, when in actuality the emperor is buck naked.