Social Media Without Ads
Alternative to Facebook
Focus your Attention
When you are posting something online, something many people will see, something you may have to qualify or defend, you might want to take a breath, confirm your intention ...
Notice how HeadsUp just gave you space to think.
That's the space that isn't filled with ads, the space which exerts no influence. What you do next is entirely up to you.
3rd-party Manipulation
Jaron Lanier* said: "We cannot have a society in which, if two people want to communicate, the only way that can happen is if it's financed by a 3rd person who wishes to manipulate them".
The "3rd person" in Jaron's statement is the advertising industry, including social media platforms like Facebook that sell the advertising space.
With data gathered from user profiles and analysis of online behaviour, the ad business finds ways of manipulating people to spend more time on social media, maximizing their exposure to advertising.
Surveillance advertising
It's called "surveillance advertising", it drives the "attention economy", and it despoils the social media space with distraction, hype and misdirection.
People who understand this try to ignore the bs, bringing good-faith and open-minded arguments to the social discourse, seeking kindred connection among the others present. But they are constantly distracted and interrupted by ads.
HeadsUp is your alternative to
Facebook and all the others that crowd your mind with stuff you did not ask to see.
People who are not aware of it simply don't know how they are being manipulated, made to think and feel and want things they otherwise wouldn't. Considering that this usurping of self-determination and agency is so widespread and leaves people vulnerable to unethical, extractive design, the case for an ethical alternative to Facebook becomes clear!
In social media spaces without advertising, people are released from this insidious influence, able to focus on what really matters to them and provided the opportunity to make meaningful, valuable connections - to find synergy and make the most of their time online.
- which brings us to
HeadsUp's philosophy and raison d' etre ...
In search of synergy
When people of kindred spirits find each other and are inspired to collaborate, synergy is the result - a force whose output can be greater than the sum of the individuals' inputs.
Synergy requires clear objectives
What do we want to accomplish? Where are going with our project? How will we get there?
Synergy requires transparency
If everyone involved shares a common understanding of the goals, each feels attatched to the project and can recognize the value of others' contributions.
Synergy requires focus
Focus, persistency and consistency all need to be in the mix to maintain synergic momentum and achieve the goals.
Do not disturb
Whether "the project" is building a billion-dollar company or just having a good conversation, spaces where synergy happens need a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door!
Find HeadsUp's
Do Not Disturb button at top-right.
Synergy-building efforts can only be thwarted by the influence and distraction of surveillance advertising, and that's why
HeadsUp is a social media platform
without advertising.
The HeadsUp Algorithm
Whereas the surveillance-advertising business model monitors everything you do online, builds a virtual model of your personality then employs algorithms to feed you information intended to keep you engaged for its own purposes, the
HeadsUp.social algorithm behind the
Private stream is controlled by you. It includes -
Your own posts
Posts by your contacts
Posts by people you follow
Posts with hashtags you follow
Posts in groups you are a member of
These are choices you have made yourself, and you can add or remove any item at any time. You can grow your sphere by joining groups and following people and hashtags, and use contact-requests to grow your network and enjoy the privacy of encrypted messages.
The
Public stream contains all posts by everyone, in chronological order, and each new comment moves the post to the top. In this way, active posts stay current while inactive posts slide away, but they can always be found by searching hashtags or visiting interesting people's pages, and brought to the fore again by adding a comment.
* Jaron Lanier - 10 reasons to quit social media right now!
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