Occupy Facebook, Social Network For The Protesting Generation

Young technology-enthusiast activists at the Occupy Wall Street movement have come up with an idea to create their own version of the popular social networking site 'Facebook.' “I don’t want to say we’re making our own Facebook. But, we’re making our own Facebook”, says Ed Knutson, a website and mobile application developer within the Occupy development team.

Though Twitter and Facebook have contributed a great deal in promoting demonstrations, with Twitter hitting the headlines as an operating platform during the London Riots, the activists at Occupy movement believe that there is a need for an exclusive online communication system for the 'protesting generation.'



Relying on social networking giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ might be a risky move after all considering the  the recent subpoena Twitter received for protester information. Though, Twitter ignored the request to keep the subpoena requesting user information under wraps, mainly regarding the hackitivist group Anonymous and events surrounding the Occupy Boston protest, it might not always be the case. Hence, keeping this in mind an open source platform focused on protesters, is under development.

The idea might be a benignant one to start with, but there might be complexities involved in creating such a loose, open source project. Keeping such risks in mind, the platform will attempt a ‘friend of a friend model’ to instigate trust and limit spying or sabotage. Full user access will not be given to a member without a sponsor, unlike Facebook, Twitter or Google +. Still, an extensive and focused development is required to make this project tick and provide a safe and operational platform to unify protesters across the globe.

Source: ZDNet Image Credit: BuzzFeed