As a data engineering platform, we think about permanence and social media platforms. Questions like, are the platforms perennial? Is the embarrassing picture I posted a decade ago last till the end of time? Or the page I created to promote an issue in danger of disappearing without a trace. In regards to these questions, I have an interesting observation to share with you.
Before I begin, clarification. I am not trying to take a dump on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter to name a few, as they do serve a purpose. They connect businesses and people, disseminate news and ideas, bring people together, foster violence, spread love, hate, information and misinformation, and probably everything else in between.
Their digital properties are used by teens and nonagenarians alike.
It is safe to say that these platforms are ideal for anyone and everyone, trying to connect with more people and build a community of users.
Businesses do it, restaurants do it, political groups do it, news and media houses do it, amongst other groups out there.
It is mostly free to get started and if done smartly, these platforms do bring a lot to the table.
This is where things get interesting. While it takes a lot of time, effort, well resources to build your brand here. They can pull the rug under your feet at any instance, and you will lose it all, and you do.
Even before we could think of employing the power of Facebook, we realized that we had lost access to a particular page we created a few years ago. And not because of some content issues or governmental diktat. Simply because of some policy, rule change, or something we had no idea about.
The good thing is that we are building our own, and we are not dependent upon Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, or Amazon to build our programs and community. Neither do we sell these ‘dependencies’ as part of our package. Of course, it makes our job a tad difficult. But in the long run, it makes sense to build your own community of readers, users, subscribers, and services.
The cost of building an infrastructure that can do everything these platforms offer and more has become cost-efficient over the years, and Meradesh.org is a demonstration of that capability. We think it’s about time we start discussing backup strategies and digital products that will provide you autonomy.