Billions of people around the world use social media every day. It’s one of the biggest ways the Internet has impacted our lives and a key resource for sharing news and information. Protestors have used it to coordinate efforts and it has become integral to natural disaster recovery.
Social media is also, unfortunately, a security nightmare that consolidates user information and tracks user activity to better sell it to advertisers. As useful as it can be for spreading good data, it can just as easily amplify disinformation. And with every passing year, advertisements encroach more and more on timelines.
Thankfully, there is a solution: Usenet.
The Oldest Social Network
Even though Usenet is more niche today than it used to be, it’s still a vibrant community of millions of people around the globe. It was the first social network and laid the foundations on which much of the Internet (and Internet culture) is built on.
Despite being old, it’s also one of the most secure networks in the world and the preferred online hangout for security experts and tech savvy Internet users.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that it’s difficult to use. In fact, it’s quite easy to get started with Usenet. Then you can enjoy the various features that make Usenet a bastion of free speech and a safe harbor for people who want to share online without risking their private data.
A Decentralized Platform
It’s rare these days to not see stories about major data breaches on large online platforms. This affects not only social media, but also retail sites, services, newsletters, and more. And you can place a lot of the blame on centralization.
Most Internet sites these days run as a single, siloed company that stores the data you give them. This allows them to maintain control of that data and reap greater profits. But it also makes your data less secure because it only takes a single vulnerability to put all your information at risk. With more social media companies requiring two-factor authentication and offering paid subscriptions, that can include your phone number and credit card information.
Usenet is a decentralized platform. There are several different Usenet providers that each keep their own customer data, so a breach of one provider doesn’t necessarily have any effect on you or your personal information.
Moreover, because most Usenet providers don’t keep logs of your online activity, there isn’t much for hackers to steal.
Advanced Encryption and Security
Usenet was one of the first Internet services to embrace Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption for user privacy.
SSL is one of the most secure encryption protocols in the world. It’s used extensively by major corporations, banks, and even government agencies to protect data in transit. It utilizes 256-bit encryption at the beginning of the data transfer and doesn’t decrypt the data until it reaches the destination computer. Anyone who tries to intercept the transmission will only get nonsense data, and your activity will remain private.
Many Usenet providers have also been expanding their security features by offering additional solutions like VPNs, ad blockers, and antivirus software. This is part of a Usenet culture that prioritizes online safety.
Anonymity and Free Speech
Usenet is an ad-free, uncensored platform that protects its users’ identity by allowing them to remain anonymous and hiding their personal information.
Usenet newsgroups, unlike most social media platforms, don’t have a central authority to moderate and censor discussions. Moderation is done by the community at the level of the newsgroup, making conversations a lot more free than you’d find elsewhere.
Because Usenet doesn’t rely on advertising, they aren’t responsible to advertisers for content moderation, nor do they need to watch your Usenet activity at all. You are safe to share ideas and have conversations as you choose.
Bottom Line
Usenet is more secure than any social media platform and even most web pages. Providers are marinated in a culture of online security that takes cyber threats seriously and has had plenty of time to build the necessary infrastructure to combat them. Even with those measures in place, many providers are going above and beyond with added security features included in their plans.
If you’re going to talk online, why not do so in the safest place possible? Try Usenet today.