After reading the post “15 questions for an early facebook reader” in ReadWriteWeb, two (actually similar) things got my attention:

What do you think of the Facebook user interface?

I prefer the older version. This one is way too cluttered. The newsfeed is distracting/addicting/useless. I really don’t care what Joe wrote on Jane’s wall or which event Alison is attending next week.

What is the social impact of Facebook? How did it change the way you keep in touch with your friends?

When they started to add new features like the wall, photo albums, video capabilities, and groups, people became more interested. But then Facebook took it too far. Now I find Facebook to be a suffocating bombardment of useless applications and features. I prefer an older version of just the basics - messaging, walls, photos and groups.

Now I’m getting invitations to be join Zombies and Vampires, while attending Happy Hour (online). As great as it sounds to accumulate drinks from friends on Facebook, it’s not still as good as having them [offline]! The latest upgrades on Facebook seem to be geared to a younger audience, which doesn’t make sense to me, since nearly 71% of its users are 25 or older.

Kaioo is a relatively new social network located in Hamburg Germany has emerged, offering services, which could compete the ones of Facebook. As Markus Spath noted, Kaioo is basically a stripped down version of Facebook. Members get a profile, can add photo albums, join groups and communicate or flirt with other members. That’s about it, nothing we haven’t seen thousands of times.

So what makes it so special?

• Non-profit – All advertising money goes to charity!

The key difference is that kaioo donates all advertising revenues to charity, while the operating costs are covered by sponsors. kaioo places only a limited amount of advertising on the site, so there is no disadvantage to using kaioo compared to any other social networking site.

• Democratic – The users decide where the money goes!

kaioo is the Social Community of its users. Users can suggest charity projects and decide by voting which projects should be supported by kaioo.

• Independent – User data will not be given to or shared with third parties!

kaioo is and will remain independent from any political, religious, commercial or other organizations. This independence enables kaioo to guarantee its users that all user data will be treated confidentially and will not be passed on to any third parties. For kaioo, the protection of the user’s privacy and data have the highest priority. As a Germany-based and federally accredited non-profit organization, kaioo is subject to Germany’s data protection rules, which are among the most restrictive in the world.

Before I rush to any conclusions, lets take a deeper look at the pros and cons of the platform.

Pros.

• The platform is made available by kaioo for private use only. Commercial use is not permitted.

• And charity for the topping.

• The upload of pictures and videos without the consent of the photographer or the persons depicted therein.

• Privacy is of utmost importance. See also Doreen Carvajal’s post on the subject.

• It is a stripped out version of Facebook. No more useless applications about vampires and secret crushes.

Cons

• From the Terms of Use:

There is no claim on membership at kaioo’s. Membership can be cancelled by both parties without stating the reasons therefore and without notice. Kaioo may terminate a membership in particular in the case of suspicion that the member has given wrong statements during registration, has breached these terms and conditions of use, has published unlawful contents about kaioo or where kaioo has another legitimate interest in termination.
Termination may be undertaken by both parties by deactivating the appropriate account.

The “without stating the reasons and without notice” part is kind of harsh. We all saw, how the Scoble-Facebook story went. A bit discussion may solve the differences.

• “Users will be able to develop new features and applications for the platform in the future.” Lets hope it won’t develop like the application-avalanche of Facebook.
• It is still in beta, so be patient.

Maybe the pros outnumber the cons, but the cons have great weight. What worth is a social network, without a network? And the terms of use have some sharp points. In the end its a personal decision. (I deleted my account in Facebook and started with Kaioo; you can find me there)

Conclusion

After the Facebook debate, maybe we should start considering alternatives. Facebook starts getting too cluttered (so many applications) and too dangerous (malware, spyware) (not to mention too commercial; especially after the update they are planning: blast messages to large groups).

But is it possible for such a huge network to loose its prestige and followers?
It seems very difficult to move your network from Facebook to another social service (plaxo, kaioo). Not only because its a fuss for the user, but because Facebook doesn’t allow it. data portability may change that.

But maybe the fuss is worth it, don’t you think?