Have you seen this video in the last few weeks? It has well over a million views and over 4 thousand comments – and that’s just on the YouTube/G+ comment stream. There are countless comments and shares all over the Internet of this one video. Whether or not you are tired of Facebook mining your data, or tired of Facebook because you don’t see what you want to see, you certainly have some alternatives available.

First, here’s the video. Below it I list 3 alternatives you can explore.

Here’s the last paragraph of author’s post on YouTube about his video:

“This is meant to start a conversation about what we are willing to let go and what we should protect in our modern lives. I personally have chosen a life in the public eye, and have forfeited many of my rights of privacy to do this profession. You may call that hypocritical, but to be human is to be hypocritical. If this is your focus then you are focusing on the wrong issue. Are you willing to let your rights go? For what, and why? At what point is enough, enough? I am genuinely interested in your opinions…” — Matthias

Matthias also has a few suggestions for social sites if you decide to leave Facebook. His are listed below; it’s certainly not geared for people in my world. I really don’t think they will grok Reddit or Diaspora – the people in my world tend to flock to Pinterest and Instagram.

Twitter | http://www.twitter.com
Reddit | http://www.reddit.com
Vine | http://www.vine.co
Tumblr | http://www.tumblr.com
Diaspora* | https://joindiaspora.com/

MY suggested list follows.
 
 

Social Alternative #1: Sgrouples

Privacy is very important to Sgrouples. The founder of this site, Mark Weinstein,  has said over and over (on every major news show in the country) that they created a Bill of Rights that states very clearly the following items:

• You own your content. We don’t. All your content belongs to you. We don’t share your content and we don’t spy on you or your content.
• We don’t track you personally and we never sell your personal data.
• We don’t provide or share with third-party advertisers, search providers, and ad networks (“Advertisers”) any personal information about you.  Read the rest of this important paragraph here.

In a recent blog post “Facebook, It’s Time We Talk Divorce” Mark sites this data:

“According to a Reason-Rupe April 2014 Poll, people trust the IRS more than they trust Facebook with their personal information. That’s pretty low. But wait, it gets lower. For in the same poll, when compared to the NSA, more people chose to trust the NSA.”

wow.

If the only reason you are on Facebook is to connect with a close circle of friends, you might want to explore Sgrouples, move all together and form a group. You’ll probably have a moment of Facebook withdrawal, but it might be worth it for a better social experience.
 

Social Alternative #2: YouTube/G+

I could easily live on G+/YouTube all day long. I love the integration and the easy of function between these two sites. They’re so connected together now that it’s starting to feel seamless for me. G+ is structured to help you find people with similar interests (as opposed to friends and family on Facebook) and YouTube is all about finding video content you enjoy. YouTube is my cable TV.

I’ve subscribed to over 400 Channels and have created 9 “Collections” (think Folders or TV Channels) to organize it all. If you think of the Collections as TV Channels, I have these: Foodies, Lifestyle Goodness, Need a Laugh, Spiritual Elements, and others. Under Foodies I have 6 YouTube Channels; MarthaStewart, KrisCarr,  BBCFood, Leaf, SavingDinner and Jamie Oliver’s FoodTube which I LOVE! 

Don’t check Facebook for a week and instead go straight to YouTube and explore all of these wonderful Channels. Get through the classic Facebook withdrawal symptoms by watching  Millennial Parents and LastWeekTonight. Remember, just because you cut your cable subscription doesn’t mean you have to miss out on some amazing TV shows. They’re all on YouTube. When you find something fun and feel a need to comment socially – YouTube is completely integrated with G+ so you can post away and have a social conversation with the new friends you’ve made on G+.

Social Alternative #3:

Real Life. Yes. Not Second Life. Real Life. Go find yourself a great social cause. Go find some wonderful place to volunteer your time and talk to the people doing all sorts of fabulous things. While everyone else posts about cats on Facebook you could be doing things that make a real difference in the world.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Do you tend to post funny cat videos on Facebook? Spend that time instead volunteering at your local animal sanctuary. And don’t spend your time taking video of the cats either. Love and take care of them. Post a selfie when you leave. That beautiful smile will inspire others to join you.
• Do you complain on Facebook how local government is messing everything up? Spend that time instead sitting in on a City Planning meeting or a County Supervisors meeting. Have lunch with a member of the local Chamber of Commerce President. Discuss your ideas with someone who lives in that world. Get involved.
• Do you just scroll and scroll and scroll through other people’s lives on Facebook – and get depressed every time? Time to close it up and go for a walk. Seriously. Everytime you feel the urge to go on Facebook, turn around and go for a walk. Your brain and your immune system will deeply appreciate it.

Never feel trapped in a social site. You have alternatives.

I’d love to hear what you have to say about all of this – Please leave a comment!