We are not the clients or customers for the service Google+ offers. Their "social network" is not the service, it is *bait*. The service is targetted advertising.
When people ask why I prefer Dreamwidth, I don't talk about the great people, the clear code, the features. I say: "the business plan. At DW, *I* am the customer." AFAIK, this makes DW different from all the major "social networks", all of which are in the advertising business. Or, in the case of e.g. Twitter, they get their business plan from the Underpants Gnomes.
Is DW the only actual social network?
the users are the product
We are not the clients or customers for the service Google+ offers. Their "social network" is not the service, it is *bait*. The service is targetted advertising.
When people ask why I prefer Dreamwidth, I don't talk about the great people, the clear code, the features. I say: "the business plan. At DW, *I* am the customer." AFAIK, this makes DW different from all the major "social networks", all of which are in the advertising business. Or, in the case of e.g. Twitter, they get their business plan from the Underpants Gnomes.