Let’s be honest. If you use traditional social media platforms then you clearly do not care much for anonymity or data privacy. That is simply the nature of the beast. The majority of people are easily lured in — this is because we each have a basic and inherent ‘social instinct’. There is an encoded genetic pre-disposition to connect — it is ingrained and inescapable. Evolutionary Psychology has a lot to say about this subject. In light of all this, social media is incredibly seductive and one would require the resolute chasteness of an ‘Unsullied Soldier’ in order to say, “No Thanks!”
Somehow I managed to extricate myself from being entangled in the Facebook-web around 18 months ago. The problem is.. I have been itching to dive back in but I simply cannot agree to the all-encompassing invasion of my privacy that inevitably would occur…yet I am still on the edge of cracking. My willpower is eroding like a penny in a bowl of cola.
So, I have been on a constant look out for robust alternatives — and I believe I may have possibly found what I am looking for and it is called Howdoo.
Being a basic play on, ‘How do you do’ — Howdoo is labelling itself a Social Network for the Blockchain world. It is a decentralised social network that combines all the positives of Facebook but claims to have jettisoned the centralised bullshit that, essentially, leads to your private data being sold to the highest bidder.
Howdoo is the brainchild of David Brierley who according to his website has had an, ’18 year track record of helping successful start-ups to bring highly innovative technologies to markets around the globe’.
The Howdoo team consists of a further 17 individuals who have a broad array of academic and occupational backgrounds. A number of these hold advisory positions. Further exploration has led me to conclude that the team is more than adequate for the task they have set themselves. From my continued research I did not identify any weak players or people from any government most-wanted lists.
How is Howdoo Different?
After reading the white paper and having a good old gander at the roadmap it is quite apparent that Howdoo is doing its hardest to become a legitimate competitor to Facebook and other mainstream messenger applications. It is clear from the outset that Howdoo has the firm intention of being the messenger and social media platform for, ‘today’s generation’ — with the intention of appealing simultaneously to the pedestrian user and the more tech savvy amongst us.
Howdoo’s plan to make themselves distinctive and stand out from the crowd originates from the underlying ethos that permeates their motivation — they genuinely seem to want to develop something that can make a meaningful difference to the world — they actually seem to care about the user experience and to put the power back into the hands of the people who choose to use it.
This seems rather mundane and insipid but when you begin think about it…it really is quite something!
Just think about how our data is used and abused at the moment. Think about the mass exploitation that occurs and the inability to truly opt out. The failure of Facebook to allow its users to enhance their online experience in a way that they want — to truly customise and tailor the adverts that they are bombarded with and to truly fashion a social media experience that they can look back and say, ‘Yeah, I’m happy with that’.
Howdoo, on the other hand, has the goal of emancipating us from the shackles of conformity and restriction. Howdoo is asking us to imagine and support a social media experience that does not monetize your personal data and content for the benefit of a few owners and shareholders.
“Rather it enables all involved to become part of a financially rewarding community of users who collectively benefit from the commercial viability of the network”
Howdoo also has the additional feature of rewarding content creators for their hard work and also built into the system is a mechanism that endows users with the ability to offer tips for noteworthy content creators.
One of the reasons that I particularly dislike Facebook is the incessant bombardment of irrelevant and nonsensical advertising. Most of the time it is completely unrelated to my interests and, in some cases actually offensive to me. So how is Howdoo different?
If they are planning on adhering to their whitepaper then the manner in which adverts are displayed is a much gentler and mutually agreeable partnership between user and advertiser. The user has to ‘proactively agree’ to the content before receiving it (rather than waking up to an advert about Cornish Basket Weaving or haemorrhoids — neither of which I want or have…yet). This is far less irksome and also has the added benefit of reducing campaign costs for the advertiser. We all win.
Will Howdoo revolutionise the social media landscape with its de-centralised approach to sharing and consumer content? Will they actually put the user in control of what they see and do and who and what they engage with? Will they create a system that is diametrically opposed to the majority of social media platforms?
From my examination of Howdoo it does seem very apparent that this, at the very least, is their honest intention. If they truly stick to their white paper — a white paper that expresses a strong compulsion to reshape, remodel and recast the existing flawed models and refashion a new one based upon an underlying spirit of integrity, collective participation and shared interests — if this is the case then I would be crazy not to step back into the world of social media.
It is possible that Howdoo could be the next big thing. Who knows…?
I am certainly following them very closely.
If you are curious to learn more then check out their telegram group and also have a look at their website www.howdoo.io
The Howdoo token sale begins in 22 days.
