I’ve had it with Facebook and want something simpler.
There, I said it. Now the social media Gods can smite me with unfollows or whatever they want to.
My stance on Facebook came from a patio lunch with girlfriends all of different stages in life. We started talking about a lecture I delivered not too long ago about the impact of social media on the family and our discussion quickly turned into how Facebook used to be for ‘catching up’. It used to be a place to dump photos and comment on them, but it has now become a juggernaut for what my friend called “boob stalking” referring to how brands will use tools that you’re used to using to grab whatever info about you they can.
THAT’s what I don’t want.
I don’t want Joes Plumbing Company to know my home phone number, simply because I liked them on Facebook. I really don’t want the neighborhood liposuction company to be able to find out that I just finished a tub of Ben and Jerry’s because my friend liked them.
Yes, I know security settings help reduce the likelihood of Joe showing up at my door with a display case full of ¾ inch poly flanges, but that’s not the point. I want to own MY data. I want to own MY identity.
When I looked at what I wanted to use Facebook for I realized I really only use it to share photos with my family and chronicle the Geekling’s life. And, given recent events (I had a stalker, but that story is for another time) I know that’s all I want to do. I don’t want people to know who I’m interacting with, and how I’m doing so, I simply want a digital version of that box of photos in the attic that I can share with my family. I want to chronicle my son’s life in a way that I can pass onto him if something tragic happens like a house fire, or my passing.
An aptly timed email introduced me to miLifemap.com (currently in beta) and its CEO Denim Smith.
miLifemap is a new service that provides storage of your memories. Think of it like a personal archive of photos, videos, diaries, and your social media presence in an interactive and private place.
It not only acts as a backup of your files, but allows you to organize your content in ways that we’re used to: creating milestones (a wedding, a family vacation, the birth of a child), yearbooks and tags from all of your photos and videos.
The pictures you have stored on other social media networks (Facebook, twitter, flickr, foursquare) are easily imported into miLifemap, which allows you to tag them and chronicle them with any other photos or videos you’d like to upload on your own. Everything in one place.
So why miLifemap and not Facebook? Denim Smith, and the staff of miLifemap have the same philosophy I do – they believe you should be the owner of your content. They want you to have a secure space to backup and share with the people YOU want to. They are parents like we are, and understand the stresses with putting your child ‘out there’ before they decide who they are and how they want to be portrayed to the world. Let’s face it, we don’t know what Facebook will be 5 years from now and who will own that picture of your Great Uncle doing the limbo at your wedding.
The UI in miLifemap is slick and easy. Milestones and yearbooks are easy to create, navigate and share. I actually had a blast looking through all my old photos and videos while populating my milestones. I set up an account for myself, and another one (which I manage from my own account) for my son. This means when he’s old enough, he can take control of his miLifemap account and pick up where I left off.
Oh! One last thing that’s unique to miLifemap—The eBeneficiary. The eBeneficiary would be a family member or trusted friend that you designate and request their approval to receive your content after you have passed away. I set mine up as my son, so if anything happens he’ll have access to my miLifemap and all the memories I thought were important in my life.
I’m not being paid to say this—I’m seriously digging this service, and think you will too, not just for the functionality but security (and we all know how big I am on backups) as well.
The details: miLifemap is currently in beta with 2GB data available for free. Additional storage will be available for a fee in the future. miLifemap also has apps for iPad and iPhone available.
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