Follow usIntroducing the Public Facet on Hibe
Since 2009 we have been working on a platform to help bring real life interactions online. To that end, we introduced Facets, which allow you to fully interact with each of your social contexts in a private environment. Hibe has built a reputation for being the privacy-aware social network, but our primary mission has always been to give people the choice in the way they interact with people around them. Just like in real life, many people interact with others not only in a private context, but publicly as well.
Today we are introducing the Public Facet on Hibe in order to reinforce our vision of a real-life social network. The Public Facet will allow people to have the choice to interact with others publicly, or on a deeper level through their private facets. Users on Hibe will have the choice to create a public facet, however any user will be free to continue to interact with their network on a completely private level and we will continue to develop this feature to facilitate private interactions. That being said, those who want to be found on Hibe, or have a place to stand out will have the Public Facet to fill these needs. Here is a breakdown of what the Public Facet can do for you:
Click the image for a larger version.
The Public Facet will be released in Q1 of 2012 along with many other great additions to the Hibe platform. In the near future we will be continuing our discussion on the Public Facet, for now if you have question of feedback on this post feel free to contribute in the comments below. As always, keep an eye out here on the blog, as well as on Twitter and Facebook for updates.
Relevant Links:
Hibe Launch Blog
Hibe at SXSW
Hibe has officially launched – for everyone
Last night on December 1st, 2011 our three years of work on the Hibe platform finally came to a peak. At our launch party our President, Jean Dobey, gave an inspiring keynote to investors, supporters and members of the press on the past, present and future of Hibe. This event marks an important milestone in our journey as a prominent social network because as of last night, Hibe is open to everyone, across the world.
To create a Hibe account, simply go to our home page (http://hibe.com) and use the sign up form to the right of the page. We are working on more advanced import options, but for now you can invite all of your contacts by entering their email.
From here our goals include continuing to improve and refine the product, listen and respond to the feedback of all our new users and prepare for the international spotlight as we approach SXSW and other key events in the coming new year.
As always, for updates on Hibe you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Relevant Links
Hibe in 1 Minute
Hibe at SXSW 2012
New Accounts Open, Pre-Registration Closed
If you have been following Hibe you will already be aware that until recently we had a closed, invite-only network. In August we began activating early registrations and since then have been releasing new accounts on a regular basis. This week alone we activated accounts for over 2000 new users.
In this exciting time before our public launch we will be focusing on polishing the platform, taking feedback from our new users into consideration and trying to make Hibe as great as possible for when we enter the market. In that vein, we are announcing today that early-registrations have been closed in order to focus on improvements with this limited user base. That being said, anyone receiving invites from current Hibe users will still be able to sign up as usual. We also may sporadically release a small group of accounts before launch to get new eyes on the product.
To get updates on when new accounts might be released or stay up to date with Hibe developments, feel free to follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Relevant Links
Hibe on Twitter
Hibe on Facebook
Hibe in 1 Minute
Hibe – Changing the advertising dynamic
We are living in a world where increasingly we as people, and as users of online services, are being commoditized. Too many sites and services see people as walking, typing wallets as opposed to actual people and we wanted to take a look at this current dynamic of online advertising and where this might eventually lead.
Let’s go back 20 years or so, in a time where the Internet was still in its infancy. At this time the main forms of mass media were radio and television. Both of these worked on a similar model: People were given access to a limited free number of channels for free or very limited cost and in exchange for the low price point were exposed to advertising. Consumers could also choose to pay a premium for channels with no advertising. This is called reciprocity, or exchanging one thing for another. In this example the exchange is simple: You are given a free service in exchange for exposure to advertising.
Fast-forward to the present. Many online services follow a very similar advertising model to TV and Radio. Products such as Evernote, Grooveshark and many others offer a free service in exchange for advertising dollars. Again, for a premium, ads can be removed and additional features unlocked. Now let’s look at another type of advertising model, one which demands a lot more from users, and gives a lot less in return:
Last year Google made 2.82 billion dollars in advertising revenue and Facebook made 1.86 billion. One cannot criticize these companies for making money, after all they are running a business. However one has to ask, what are these companies giving back to their users in exchange?
The most obvious answer to this question is that Google and Facebook give users access to platforms that allow people to connect to each other. But can Google and Facebook really be seen as providing a service, if all their users are to them is a source of data? In other words, should the mouse be grateful for the cheese at the end of the maze, if the cheese was bait for the scientists to collect data about the mouse?
The heart of the issue here is if users are nothing more than a source of data to Facebook and Google, who are they providing a service to exactly, aside from themselves?
Enter Hibe, a new social network that switches things up a bit. If you have been following us you already know that Hibe does not have an advertising-based revenue model. We do not sell, transfer or give out our users’ data to third-parties, which means there’s no need for bait, no maze.
Consider for a moment the power the consumer would have in an environment without advertising. Instead of the noise of ads alienating people from the services they are trying to use, users would actually be able to enjoy each other and the service. Furthermore, what kind of change would there be in the consumer/company relationship? Well in a world where the consumer isn’t being inundated with ads, the consumer would now have all the power. Suddenly the tables would be turned and the intent to buy, or the expression of brand loyalty would be extremely valuable. Picture a model more like the following:
Here we see that when you eliminate the noise of advertising that doesn’t really represent you as a person, suddenly the consumer has the power. As we can see in the second example, the user would have the power to express interest in a brand or product, and would be rewarded for expressing this. Throughout the whole experience, however, there wouldn’t be the noise of the entire world trying to target this person to buy things they don’t need or want.
Hibe is working hard to build a platform where this vision can become a reality. We believe that going further than the mere illusion of choice is key. Once the choices of users concerning who can see what are truly respected instead of left up to a series of default settings, we can begin to develop this kind of model. Another step is giving users true ownership over their own data and content. This ownership starts from the moment content is posted until the day it is deleted. Once data is deleted it is gone from our servers, in the same way that the entire time it is kept on our servers, the only ones with access are the people the user decides to share with. We are making a change to give users the power to make choices about who they share with, when they wish to communicate with companies, and on their terms.
As always, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates and details on when you can get an account on Hibe.
Relevant links:
Why Facebook is selling you out – and Won’t Stop
Google doesn’t get people, it sells them
Hibe in 1 Minute
Hibe at the Montreal NewTech Demo
Yesterday we met up with members of the Montreal startup community for the Montreal NewTech Demo. We met up at 6PM at McKibbin's Irish Pub downtown and were able to demo Hibe in front of a really great crowd.
There was a total of 5 presentations. Besides Hibe the list included a secure chat service called Crypto.cat, the social movie service GroupMo, a location based sharing and trending service called HuWhere and the social media aggregrator Wavo.me. All the presenters had extremely interesting services and their demonstrations were a testament to the innovation that can be found here in Montreal.
During my presentation of Hibe I was able to give the group a quick introduction to Hibe and demonstrated the power of our faceting system. I explained to the NewTech crowd that on Hibe, Facets go deeper than just lists or groups, but allow you to create a different image for yourself for each of your audiences. Furthermore you can customize your contact and profile information for each facet and allow them to see you exactly how you decide.
As an example of the depth of Hibe's faceting, I showed how even though I may share something with all of my contacts, Hibe's faceting system still respects the contexts I create, and is able to take comments I may get from my family and keep them private from someone viewing the same post from my work.
Overall the Montreal NewTech Demo was an extremely satisfying experience and the crowd seemed extremely receptive. For those interested, the NewTech Demo meets up every month, you can visit their website for more details.
Relevant Links:
Montreal NewTech Demo Site
Hibe in 1 Minute
Hibe vs. Facebook and Google+: Who do you trust with your information?
Introducing a new social network, especially when going up against giants like Facebook and Google can be an uphill battle. A common question we get asked about Hibe is how do you stand out against these other products currently on the market? Well where Hibe differs is in our approach to our users' information and a kind of respect that you won't find in Facebook or Google+.
As you will see in the infographic below, the differences and strength of Hibe are very clear. Take a look and see for yourself the approach Hibe takes to user information as well as privacy.
click the image for a larger version
Relevant Links:
[Infographic] How complex is your privacy?
Hibe - Giving users the power of choice
1 Minute video on youtube
Hibe – Giving Users the Power of Choice
Here at Hibe we have been building a platform to help people deepen their interactions with their different social contexts and give them 100% control over their online identity. Now that the project is nearing completion, we thought we would break down how Hibe will empower users and what sets us apart from the current status quo.
Providing Power Over Your Identity
With facets, you can control the way your different social circles see and interact with you. You can choose a different avatar, contact and personal information for each facet, and organize all of your contacts so they see you through whichever context you want.
With other social networks most users are faced with a choice; either censor your thoughts to be appropriate for everyone, or risk alienating some of your contacts. On Hibe, you can share fully with everyone, instead of settling with half sharing. Hibe allows you to be your complete self, fully exploring all of your social contexts with the peace of mind of knowing the right content is shared with the right people.
Giving More Control
So we've seen how facets allow you to establish a stronger online identity, but how exactly does Hibe give you more control over your content?
Your contacts can only view the posts and booklets that you choose. When you post something, you have the choice to limit your post to be visible to only certain groups of people- so you can always be sure who is seeing what. No Resharing, no friend of friends – just your choices.
On Hibe you are also able to control which of your contacts are able to see each other. This is a feature unique to Hibe, in that most other social networks take the approach of complete visibility. On Hibe, only contacts that you place in the same facet are able to see each other. That means a contact in one facet is not able to see who you are connected to in another facet, therefore protecting your other contacts, and your privacy.
Keeping It Simple
At Hibe we make a point of maintaining a respectful approach to our users' choices and information.
Since Hibe gives its users complete control over who they share their information with by giving them the power to organize and share with their contacts accordingly, privacy is assured by default, for everyone. Furthermore we will never introduce new features that make information public or use an 'opt out' approach. We think doing otherwise shows a lack of respect to users.
Since we believe in the freedom of choice in social interactions, we will never purposely obscure or complicate our privacy policy or create complicated privacy settings. It is our intent to create an atmosphere of respect, understanding and security.
Launch Schedule
Hibe is happy to announce that we will be launching next week on August 1st. The first step in this process will be transferring all current accounts to the new system, which will be taking place during this first week. After this process, our priority will be honoring pre-registrations on Hibe and opening up invitations to a much broader audience.
Stay tuned in the next week for updates on Twitter and here on our blog.
Relevant Links:
News from Hibe: New video and production update
1 Minute video on youtube
A deeper look into Google+ privacy concerns
A little more than a week ago, Google launched its new social service called Google+. We released our initial reaction to Google+ last week, however this week we wanted to address the increasing discussion on privacy issues surrounding Google+. There's many people taking positions on both sides of the debate- some saying that Google+ gives more control and is the better alternative to Facebook and others criticizing Google for deceiving users into a false sense of privacy. Here's where we stand:
Google flaunts its new service as a way for users to share different things with different people, “Giving you more ways to stay private or go public.” Usually, we would agree with such a philosophy, but instead of building a platform to reinforce this, the Google+ team says one thing and does another.
The Reshare Button – Taking away your choice
The infamous Reshare button is one of the first Google+ privacy controversies. Some originally thought this was some sort of privacy loophole, and others saw it as harmless- comparing it to copy/pasting or forwarding an email; however both of these statements completely miss the point. If Google+ was truly a social network that respected your choices concerning who to share with, why create a button that lets anyone betray that choice? After the outcry that followed, Google claimed they were working on a fix. After a day or so, their fix was pushed out to the masses, see below:
Their fix? A warning. The Reshare button obviously isn't a bug Google is keeping the feature in. This means that it was put there on purpose to share content with anyone, thus proving that Google cares little for their users' privacy and only use the illusion of choice to get users to sign up and share comfortably.
No control over your own image
Many, if not all of the main features in Google+ are public by default, instead of private. In fact in keeping with this trend Google announced last week that it will be deleting all private Google profiles by the end of the month. This trend towards public by default in Google+ is worrisome, especially since certain features allow others to control your image almost as much as you can.
Just like on Facebook, Google+ has a photo tagging feature. So just like Facebook, anyone can upload a photo of you, tag you in the photo and share it publicly. Here, your photo appears on their public profile with your name next to it, as well as in your photo section. The tag remains there until you decide to remove it, however with the Reshare button, by the time you get to the photo to untag yourself, the damage might already be done.
Just like Facebook, Google+ is taking an 'opt out' approach to your privacy. While Google wants people to believe they are a private and safe alternative to Facebook, they are merely commodifying privacy in order to gain traction with those concerned with this issue.
It's easy to see beyond circles
Google+ has been advertised as a way of safely and discretely sharing with certain groups of people. Google ensures users that their contacts won't be able to see which Circles they are in. However, after looking at Google+, it's obvious how visible your circles really are.
First, anyone with access to a limited post can easily see who else you have shared it with. After clicking on the 'limited' tag next to your post, they can see the names and profiles of those also seeing the same post. From here on out, the circles basically populate and label themselves. Here's an example:
1. Here, anyone seeing my post is able to tell I shared this post with 4 people who all share my last name. They'll immediately be able to tell that I have a family Circle that looks like this:
2: Now as soon as this person sees another post I have shared with my family AND others, the second circle will immediately be obvious as well:
This reveals severe flaws in the Google+ platform. It does not matter what Google tells users, If you can see who the post is shared with, you can see the 'label'- because the people in each circle are what define the label.
Google+ for businesses – Your own data used against you
Google has already announced that they have big plans on Google+ for businesses and brands. In a post last week they sent a message to businesses detailing some of their plans, mentioning adwords, analytics and the ability to communicate with users through circles.
For a while now Google has been using user data from Gmail and search for advertising purposes, that is no secret. In fact, Google made approximately 28.2 BILLION dollars on advertising revenue in 2010 alone.
With businesses soon coming to Google+, it will be interesting to see what direction Google will go with the information users share with their circles, and how this will be integrated with businesses on their platform. However if the past is any indication, it looks like Google+ will be nothing more than one more source of data for advertisers and businesses to more accurately target consumers, using their own information.
Google+: Using Privacy as a Gimmick
As we've seen above, the way Google is marketing Google+ doesn't seem to be reflected in the actual service. Google claims that their platform allows for more control over who sees what but by default Google+ shows the following:
- Choices are taken out of your hands
- You have little control of your own image
- It's easy to see through circles
- Your own data is used against you
That being said, one has to ask themselves whether Google is using privacy and control as a gimmicky selling point or if they truly believe in this system. Our answer? If Google truly cared about your privacy, they would build a system that would reflect and support these kinds of functionalities. Instead they built Google+, where most everything is public by default and contradicts what the message they tell their users.
Taking the above into account as well as Google's plans for businesses and advertising, the only takeaway is that Google+ is a platform where privacy and control take a back seat to information gathering and advertising.
Relevant links:
GigaOM - It's all about the data
Mashable - Google Accelerates Google+ for Business Test Program
Financial Times - The first Google+ privacy flaw
How Complex Is Your Privacy?
It's a common problem in any social network; an acquaintance or coworker invites you to connect, yet you're not completely comfortable sharing all of your information with them. However, a refusal of the invitation can create an awkward social situation offline. In many social networks, such as Facebook, the invitee will be able to see your activity, and know that their invitation has gone unaccepted, which can lead to feelings of rejection, frustration and even anger. What good is a social network if it only alienates others?
A solution to this problem would be to accept the invite and then hide information you don't wish to share with that individual, yet it seems like Facebook makes this intentionally difficult. In order to hide even one piece of information from any one individual, you have to go through over 10 steps- and then repeat most of those steps over for every subsequent piece of information. To change every setting, you would need to repeat these steps up to 15 times- and even then, there's no guarantee it will be kept private!
Here at Hibe, we make it our mission to create easier solutions to these problems. Why should it be so hard to keep your information private? On Hibe, you can create facets to reflect the same social contexts you interact through in real life. When you create an account, you can simply choose to create a facet with information you are comfortable sharing with those you add to it. That way, when you get invites from those you don't want to reject, but prefer not to share everything with – it's as simple as placing them in that facet!
Let's take a look at how simple it can be to make a change on Hibe, versus how complex it can be when trying to maintain privacy on Facebook. Remember, while on Hibe it's as simple as changing facets- on Facebook, you need to proceed through several steps for each individual piece of information, up to 15 times!
On Facebook there is a maze of privacy settings, but Hibe eliminates the need for these settings by interacting with others contextually. Interested in simplifying your privacy Online? Pre-register on our homepage and while you're there, check out our video!
