Is It Time for the Next Facebook?

With the news that Mark Zuckerberg is refusing to testify about how he and Facebook failed to protect users' data, and the financial impact of the Cambridge Analytics scandal continuing to hit Facebook and its investors in the pocket book, I wonder how many young comp sci wizards are out there working away at creating the next Facebook to tempt users away from the Zuckerberg mess. You go, geeks. All it takes is an algorithm, a clever name, and a guarantee to not sell (your soul and) everyone’s data to Cambridge Analytics.

The story of how Facebook's empire began to unravel has been well documented in publications like Wired and the Atlantic, and the speculation continues regarding the ultimate impact on Facebook's viability if any significant number of users began to latch on to the #DeleteFacebook movement. In the world of tech, social media, and innovation, there is always another app or site or platform looking to capture the world's narcissistic but fleeting attention span, though few have been able to harness those forces as well as Mark Zuckerberg and his techies. That said, nothing is forever, and Facebook could certainly go the way of MySpace if he loses the Millenials and iGen. They already prefer other platforms like SnapChat (and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook).

If I were a techie - and I'm not - I'd be thinking about how to write the app and the platform that would allow Facebook users to migrate their photos and memories and friends to a new site that (at least on the surface) appears to provide better protection of privacy and data while still offering the comfort and ease that Facebook does. Of course, it will take some research into how Zuck pulled off his act of (social media-) world domination. While someone writes the code, the young entrepreneur should consider checking out some books like: