Anybeat - a Facebook alternative that respects your privacy?

'Privacy' is NOT a killer app.

Unfortunately, the reality is most people using Facebook do not care so much about privacy as the media wants you to believe If they did, they would not be putting a hundred pictures of 'last night' up on Facebook to show their hundreds of friends which is one 'share' away

Build a great product. It is all that matters.

The 'our Facebook' link at the bottom explains why you cannot beat facebook at its game.

Anybeat was formally Altly which did intend to become a Facebook alternative. Once Google+ launched they realized that Google+ is positioning themselves as an alternative to Facebook and made a major pivot which included the name change. The new focus is not to be an alternative to Facebook at all. Facebook and Google+ will more than likely remain the place where people go to socialize online with people whom they already know including their personal and business relationships. However, Anybeat's focus is entirely on meeting new people who you do not already know in the physical world. Yes, pseudonyms are supported but not forced and are really only a small aspect of their focus. Other features which I find the most enjoyable but not often mentioned are the Interests Roulette which pairs you up to chat with random people on the site based on similarities. Also, the public square which is a place to have conversations about topics you are interested in with people you have never met. Public square is very much like a forum but having that functionality within more of a social network type environment leads to some really interesting interactions.

Bloggers and tech media love to try and spin Anybeat as a Facebook killer, or alternative because it sounds like such a juicy story and in fact has some truth in the history of the company. However, the vision of Anybeat is much different than Altly and whether people want to acknowledge it or not they are really going after a totally different type of interaction than both Facebook and Google+

For anyone who wants to see something besides the login screen, here is a link I found on Techcrunch for some beta invites http://www.anybeat.com/ia/4e6d1ab62caca06253000024

Anybeat reminds me more of the chat room scene in AOL or IRC or Compuserve and the like in the early 90's. The chance of serendipitous encounters focused around topics and chance.

This appealed to me a lot more when I was 13 however.

Here's the problem. To be a "Facebook alternative", you need to have the people. It's not an alternative until it's useful as one.

Privacy and data ownership are great features, but they aren't products.

I am the CEO of Anybeat and happy to answer any questions :)

the true facebook killer is going to be a "social markup" standard and its many implementations that has the potential to surpass the power the facebook platform gives to the advertiser, not another centralized service. (note how hosting your own social hub elegantly solves any privacy concerns you might have) given the amount of work that goes towards this (not much), I don't think facebook has much to worry about.

"A Facebook alternative"... Really?

"We don't expect Anybeat to replace Facebook" - http://www.anybeat.com/about

Yet another Facebook alternative? Seriousely? I'm all for competition, but between diaspora, G+, unthink, now this ...