After Facebook, there was MeWe

Wow, the messages have been piling up since we wrote about Facebook last Saturday.

Plenty of readers are upset, and are asking about another place they might go to communicate with friends and so forth.

Frankly, there are two ways to look at this — then act accordingly.

First, think the very worst and just assume that your personal information is already in the hands of just about everybody on Earth.

We know Facebook was giving it away for a song. And cards you have from retail stores, banks and every other document that contains your Social Security number might as well be in the public domain.

Proof: Go online and check just about any retail site. Note that their ads are tailored specifically for you.

That didn’t happen by accident.

Hell, Amazon knows more about you than your therapist.

So ...

If you want to accept that this privacy horse bolted from the barn long ago, and just take it for granted that the whole planet has all your vital information already, then what the heck?

Just stay with Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg’s actions make the whole thing a bit slimy, agreed, but it’s not like Facebook is the only sinner — and it is STILL the very best platform for connecting with friends, family, groups and so on.

So hold your nose, assume even Vladimir Putin has your credit card data, and concede it’s too late to abandon Facebook.

On the other hand...

If you really want to try some social media site that guarantees privacy, there is an app called MeWe.

For a hint on how they approach guarding your information, MeWe uses the hashtag #Not4Sale.

MeWe’s statement on its website is simple and very true: “We are social creatures by nature and private people by right.”

ADMITTEDLY, we don’t know that much about MeWe because Facebook has been busy swallowing the entire market.

Reader Deborah Rose wrote to concede that lack of experience, but suggested it was worth a look.

“Let’s check it out and see what we think,” Rose wrote. “I’ve been wanting to fire Facebook myself for quite some time.”

Frankly, that’s a popular sentiment.

I suspect that a lot of folks who admit Facebook has bagged and peddled their personal data are itching to take a stand and go somewhere else.

If that sounds like you, then MeWe might be worth a shot.

Just put a few posts on Facebook to tell all your contacts about the change and go.

Nobody is going to bankrupt Zuckerberg, but you might feel better just taking an ethical stand.

MEANWHILE, on another topic...

I mentioned a while back that there was wildlife strutting around various neighborhoods, and said that a moose was only about 30 feet from the back deck of my condo.

Several readers questioned that, and suggested I hadn’t really seen a moose.

It had to be a deer or some other grazing animal, you know, strolling so close to my front door.

No, my friends, it was a moose, but...

The picture I took with my phone wasn’t very good, because the moose was standing in the shade and I had no intention of getting any closer.

It was frustrating, because I’d never want loyal readers to think “A Brand New Day” might ever contain a fib.

So happily, Katy O’Neal (marketing manager at Twin Lakes Village) heard about my dilemma and forwarded some photos of her own.

Gaze upon this image, ladies and gentlemen.

Now that is a moose, OK?

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Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @BrandNewDayCDA