Zuckerberg, Step Aside - Zurker is Here

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My husband hates Facebook.

He never created an account there, never even saw how it worked.

But he hates it and everything about it.

You see we are currently shopping for our next house in the San Francisco Bay area.

Those of you who live there know that a decent house in a decent area can get expensive very quickly, even in the seeming real estate downturn.

Getting back to Facebook: their base of operations is located in Palo Alto, CA, just south of San Francisco.

The recent announcement of their upcoming IPO (initial public offering, i.e. Facebook will become a publicly traded company) is rumored to create hundreds of instant millionaires.

Those instant millionaires will need bigger, better, more expensive homes, which will lead to real estate price increase, which will mean that our already tight budget will suffer even more.

Yes, my husband really doesn’t like Facebook right now.

However, that strong dislike quickly went from the concern for the rising real estate prices to “How unfair it is for those pimple-faced college kinds to become instant millionaires while the rest of us are stuck in the grind of paying off our college loans for most of our lives while still struggling to provide for our families!”

It really reminded me of one of my favorite scenes from the movie “Serendipity”:

In Comes Zurker

No, this is not a Facebook bashing post.

Facebook is great for many reasons, both business and personal.

Facebook is the reason my long-lost family in Russia was able to find me online and get in touch with me.

However, if you use Facebook for business, you need to tread with caution.

Their playground, their rules.

The same goes for any other social media network out there.

Except for one.

Zurker.

The second I stepped foot on Zurker territory, I was fascinated, entertained, and intrigued.

What’s so Special about Zurker?

If I had to sum up Zurker in one word, it would be DEMOCRACY.

Zurker is a member-owned social platform.

This means that Zurker is not driven by a bunch of pimple-faced college kids that stand to make enormous amounts of money off collecting our private information and then selling it off to advertisers.

The idea behind Zurker is simple and intriguing: let’s give the keys to the network to the members and let them decide what’s best for them.

“At Zurker, we believe that if our members own the project, they will enthusiastically contribute ideas and feedback, allowing the Zurker development team to develop the social application most in tune with what people actually want.” from About page

To become a co-owner and an investor, all you need to do is to invite your friends to join Zurker.

For each person referred by you, you earn a vShare.

vShares are a stake in Zurker.

One vShare is equivalent to ownership of 1/1,000,000 of Zurker.

Now we are not talking about real shares of stock, since Zurker is not a publicly traded company - yet.

When 1,000,000 vShares have been allocated, Zurker will be restructured as a public corporation and vShares will become real shares.

Why would Zurker founders do that?

In their own words:

“Facebook and Google+ may have highly talented engineers, but no elite engineering team can beat the innovative power of 500,000 passionate members who each have a stake in the success of the project as a whole.

Recent history has taught us one thing - democracy always triumphs.”

Bottom line: you get to own a part of a social network just by doing what you are already doing, i.e. growing your social reach, networking with other members, and branding yourself and your business.

I find this concept pretty interesting and attractive… Don’t you?

Other Essentials I Loved about Zurker

As I was going through the steps of signing up for Zurker, I got a strong feeling that this network is about QUALITY.

Just take a look at one of the screenshots of the sign-up process:

I like that.

Zurker’s version of the “Wall” is called “Street”.

You can post links, photos, videos, have private conversations with specific users, create business pages - you name it, Zurker offers it.

But don’t take my word for it - go see it for yourself.

Why? Why? Why?

Aren’t we talking about just another time-consuming social media network here, Ana?

Don’t we have enough of them already?

Yes, and yes.

Here’s why I think you should check out Zurker though: it gives us a chance to dream of being a part of something way bigger than we could ever create ourselves…

Sure, Zurker can go belly up a year or two from now.

But what if it doesn’t?

Facebook started in a college dorm.

Would you have jumped on the chance to co-own it back then knowing that it would become an online giant?

With Zurker, you have that chance.

I love it how the founders of Zurker addressed the “Is Zurker a scam?” question:

“Just about every new startup is potentially a scam.

A bunch of entrepreneurs with varying degrees of technical ability somehow secure funding from Venture Capital firms.

Many startups burn through the funding, spending money on things like fast cars, without ever turning a profit.

The Venture Capital firms are OK with that because the few that do succeed, bring phenomenal return on investment.

At Zurker we practice Open-Book Accounting so at least you know we’re not buying Maybachs. “

Zurker gives us a chance to have a piece of pie and eat it too.

That’s why I look forward to exploring it more.

How about you?

Go check it out now.

This post was brought to you by Ana Hoffman

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