Actually I think these mostly succeed against Facebook where governments create an artificial environment by blocking Facebook. Perhaps the most successful of

Actually I think these mostly succeed against Facebook where governments create an artificial environment by blocking Facebook. Perhaps the most successful of the social networks that competed against Facebook on even terms was Orkut, and it's gone now. Markets with strong network effects, like social networks, tend to be winner takes all. You'll never upset the market leader by making a marginally better product. If it's not 10 times better AND can't be copied by the leader you've got no chance really. If Facebook is replaced it will be by people shifting to a different paradigm, not to an incrementally modified version of the same thing.