Are we now looking at a mass exodus from Facebook following the recent scandal, or is it just a blip?

With the recent scandal to hit Facebook, people are looking for an alternative, safe and secure social media platform.

‘The Facebook’ was first launched on February 4th 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with some of his fellow college students. Initially limited to Harvard students it was later expanded to other higher education institutions in the Boston area.

Gradually ‘The Facebook’ added support for students from other universities and also high school students.

In 2006, it changed it’s name to just ‘Facebook’ and was made public to anyone with an email address who was over the age of 13.

As of January 2018, Facebook has more than 2.2 billion active users.

Over the years, Facebook has been the subject of various scandals, I highlight a few of these below:

The Winklevoss brothers — after misleading the Winklevoss brothers into believing he was helping them build a social network called HarvardConnection, Mark Zuckerberg is accused of using their idea to start a competing project. They sued Zuckerberg in 2008 and settled out of court for 1.2 million shares in Facebook.

Fake News — The term ‘Fake News’ (one on the Don’s favorite terms), has thrived on Facebook in recent years.

It is estimated that up to 140 million users have seen Russian propaganda in their News Feeds over the years, some 10 million of which saw election-based propaganda in 2016. It is widely believed that the Russian government are responsible for a multitude of fake news stories to try and sway the presidential election of 2016.

Facebook are now embroiled in their biggest scandal so far.

Data Leak — At the heart of the scandal sits Cambridge Analytica, a British based data analysis firm that offers services to businesses wanting to influence ‘audience behavior’. They are known to use extremely underhanded tactics such as ‘honey-traps’ and setting up bribes to be filmed and published.

During the summer of 2014, Cambridge Analytica hired researcher, Aleksandr Kogan, to gather basic profile information of Facebook users along with what they chose to “Like.” About 300,000 Facebook users, most or all of whom were paid a small amount, downloaded Kogan’s app, called This Is Your Digital Life, which presented them with a series of surveys. Kogan collected data not just on those users but on their Facebook friends, if their privacy settings allowed it — 87 million people unknowingly took handed over their personal data.

Since 2007, Facebook has allowed outside developers to build and offer their own applications within its space. When Kogan offered his app, Facebook also allowed developers to collect information on friends of those who chose to use their apps if their privacy settings allowed it.

It is reported that Cambridge Analytica paid $800,000 to Kogan for the app.

With all this in mind, I have recently been looking at new evolving platforms which may offer us the alternative that we are looking for.

I think I have found it.

A decentralized platform on the blockchain oddly named Howdoo seems to show promise.

Being decentralized it offers the highest security currently available. As a distributed network it ensures the integrity of all data by removing the risk of any form of modification. Simply put, it’s tamper proof.

Facebook recently announced they plan to create a paid version of their platform which will remove advertisements from news feeds.

Howdoo however, gives you the choice whether to see ads or not and it’s totally free.

Added to this is the opportunity to earn udoos (the Howdoo token) if you do decide to see ads.

Howdoo puts your personal data 100% back in your control, allowing you to choose who and what has access to it. You decide what is to be made available and to whom.

Howdoo have recently started their ICO (initial coin offering), the blockchain equivalent of an IPO (initial public offering) and investors have a chance to get in early.

They have released an alpha version of their mobile platform and all going well intend to go live in the near future.

If you are interested in taking control back of your data on a platform that offers so much more, I suggest you get involved and take a look.

Visit their website at or their Telegram Group at for more information.