A mother finds Facebook creepy, starts new social network UmeNow.com

(Credit:
istockphoto)
(CBS) – We don’t know about you, but we’re completely confused by UmeNow.com. A social network that’s super-private? Then what’s the point?

Founder and mom-preneur Evelyn Castillo-Bach aims to provide social networkers on the web a way to connect with friends, family and colleagues without giving up their right to privacy. Hmmm, so how will your friends, family and colleagues know it’s you?

UmeNow.com is not supported by ads, so they’ll never collect users’ data. (Sounds kind of like how other social networks first started out.) “We believe you have a right to delete anything you post or to post anonymously,” according to the site’s “About Us” section.

Third-party apps are banned, and the site won’t track users, too.

Some might consider Castillo-Bach a social heroin of sorts. She realized how creepy Facebook is, so she created an entire web site to meet the needs of those who are over and done with facial recognition and other marketing ploys whereby their information is used. Watch UmeNow.com’s promotional video here entitled “Nothing to Like About Facebook,” so you can see exactly why Castillo-Bach started the site. (Warning: if you thought Facebook was scary, this video will creep you out even more!)

“UmeNow.com is positioning itself as the bold new player set to destroy Facebook’s lead in the social networking universe. It’s the first and only ad-free social communication service in the world that is totally focused on privacy,” says Social Times.

UmeNow’s “About Us” section also concludes, “Facebook has morphed into a data collection company. It’s a full-time job keeping up with its relentless efforts to override privacy. And Google is the master of data collection. The battle between them is about domination – who will control what there is to know about you.”

We’d tell you what it’s like to use UmeNow.com, but we really don’t feel like paying the monthly subscription rate of $6 to use the site. You can also pay $36 for six months and $45 for the year, or $100 per year for a group plan, which means you and 10 of your friends can go in on it together.

Knowing all of this, are you going to sign up, stick to Facebook or neither?

How Facebook affects your kids – good and bad

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Facebook Names Erskine Bowles to Board, Expanding Size to Seven Members

Facebook Inc., the world’s most
popular social-networking service, named Erskine Bowles, a
member of former President Bill Clinton’s administration, as a
director, expanding the board to seven members.

Bowles, who most recently served as co-chair of President
Barack Obama’s bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform, was White House chief of staff under
Clinton from 1996 to 1998, the company said today. Bowles also
was president of the University of North Carolina system from
2006 to 2010.

“Erskine has held important roles in government, academia
and business which have given him insight into how to build
organizations and navigate complex issues,” said Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Facebook, in a statement.
“Along with his experience founding companies, this will be
very valuable as we continue building new things to help make
the world more open and connected.”

Facebook is expanding its board while preparing to either
disclose financial data or hold an initial public offering by
April. The company said in June that Reed Hastings, chief
executive officer of Netflix Inc., joined the board.

Bowles is also a director of bank holding company Morgan
Stanley (MS), rail transportation provider Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) and
retailer Belk Inc. (BLKIA)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Brian Womack in San Francisco at
bwomack1@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net.

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