Unthink

Unthink was a social network website launched in October 2011 that aimed to challenge Facebook. The site began beta testing on October 26, 2011. Users of the website could choose to pay a fee for its service or opt into an advertising feature. The feature allowed users to pick a business that they endorsed to sponsor their page.^[1] Another way that the site sought to distinguish itself from Facebook was by attempting to provide users with easy control of their privacy.^[2] The site also offered users separate profile sections for personal and business communication.^[3]

Unthink, aside from being a beta website,^{[citation needed]} is a movement that was spearheaded in 2012 by strategist and motivational writers and speakers to promote an entrepreneurship era. The Unthink ideals are meant to liberate average individuals from society's expectations raised by society and interpreted as a natural part of our way of life.

The Unthink Strategy guides businesses and entrepreneurs through a transparent & honest evaluation of their current process and management to improve sales, employee retention and growth. Evolution plays its course, and as our culture changes so must the way conduct ourselves.

History

The site was conceived by Natasha Dedis, who served as CEO. After her son mentioned his intention to join Facebook, Dedis read the site's terms of service. She was disappointed by the terms, which she later characterized as "oppressive".^[1] She began working on the site in 2008.^[4] Unthink received $2.59 million in funding from DouglasBay Capital. It is based in Tampa, Florida.^[3] At the time that beta testing launched the site had ten employees.^[5] Shortly after its launch the site was temporarily brought down due to heavy traffic.^[2] Unthink planned to launch a mobile version of the site in January 2012.^[6]

Unthink's marketing had focused on its differences from Facebook, even billing itself as the "anti-Facebook". In particular, they emphasize the fact that users own the information that they contribute to the site and that a different advertising model was utilized. Users could, however, export their information from Facebook to Unthink.^[3] Unthink's marketing had also emphasized a "social revolution" and the site's "wild and free" qualities,^[7] while using images from the Civil Rights Movement.^[4] One commercial for Unthink features an actress accosting a man who resembles Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Its criticism of established companies has been compared to the Occupy Wall Street movement by Doug Gross of CNN. Gross noted, however, that larger and better funded ventures, such as Google Plus, have struggled to draw users away from Facebook.^[1] Christopher Barger speculated on Forbes.com that Unthink and other new social networks may encounter difficulties drawing users because consumers "may have reached a saturation point with social networking".^[8]

Amber MacArthur was critical of the site's beta interface after she registered a profile. Though she praised their initial marketing campaign, she noted that the site's design is not as "clean" as Google Plus and that it more closely resembled MySpace. She also complained of the difficulty of importing contacts from an address book to Unthink.^[9]

Current status

As of January 2014, upon going to Unthink's URL, visitors are presented with a universal temporary page that says, "Future Home Of Something Quite Cool."

See also

• Diaspora (social network)

References

External links

• Unthink.com