Here's an example of how to beat Facebook: Make a social network for children. Facebook has too much political inertia to be trusted with such a thing. Then,

Here's an example of how to beat Facebook: Make a social network for children. Facebook has too much political inertia to be trusted with such a thing. Then, as those children grow, continue to come out with services useful to them. They have to be new enough and cool enough that the kids will switch to the new service as they get older. If you can manage to make your service useful throughout all stages of a person's life, starting with childhood, then you can eventually displace Facebook by refusing to sell. It won't be easy, and it would take a decade. But it's doable. You may question the ethics. That's valid. Unfortunately, ethical questions tend to go out the window: Every time a technology becomes possible, it seems to be inevitable. Bitcoin is a perfect example. Either you build this, or someone else might. And if you care about the ethics, this is an opportunity to build something less draconian than Facebook from first principles.