Okuna- The NEW Internet Social Site

A few years ago I wrote a blog on a new, more ethical and safer social media site, Openbook. Since that time, there were some issues with the names the creators chose, they went to court a couple times even (kind of petty!) BUT, they are now Okuna! After the official launch, I accepted their invitation to be a beta tester and have found Okuna quite satisfying. No more triggering negativity that will forever randomly pop-up on Facebook newsfeed uncontrollably, as though I can't just click my MSN newsfeed or my local news site online. Enough with it all!

Okuna is a relaxing online atmosphere that I access from the app I downloaded to my cellphone. Just normal online conversations with total strangers from around the world on shared easygoing content. I can either react positively to posts or scroll past. Most of us are from G+ communities so of course there's a lot of animal and nature photography, cooking recipes and food pics, and articles from the many hobbies we enjoy. Okuna users also share stories about work (naturally!) and considering quarantine today, some share daily activities. The separation from human contact really can take a toll, but Okuna has so much positivity that it's easy to forget there's the other social sites blasting your face with negative articles and pics! Yes, we all read the news (or it's assumed!) but connecting on the internet through a social site should be fun and peaceful. Okuna promised and they delivered!

I have sent my invites to personal friends, pretty sure all users get some because they seem limitless. Hopefully more invites get accepted as they are sent from other users. You can see the Okuna platform is much more relaxed, safer, and their technology secure in the video below!

The Okuna platform is not just secure from online hacking and surveillance, it's also free from ads. People want to connect using the internet, but also want to feel safe doing so. We are all only human after all and the human condition requires socialization...to the degree a person is comfortable with! Online security and safety for our children is imperative! Okuna was created for a safe, different, and ethical alternative for those like me who see the Facebook platform as not only psychologically damaging, but addictive and dangerous as well.

Okuna's Creators

Joel Hernandez, the founder of Okuna, is a software engineer, privacy and security activist, digital products designer, and open sourcer. After overhearing a conversation about the complaints people had about Facebook ads, spam emails and notifications, and all the useless repetitive negative content in their newsfeeds, he came up with Okuna. He created a mock page for himself, which you can view here from my dated article about them before the name changed. He then approached one of the top minds in their field, Phil Zimmerman. Hernandez had worked with Phil Zimmerman in creating security and privacy tools for a Dutch telecom company. Phil Zimmerman has NEVER had a Facebook! That isn't unlike a lot of people, but it shows his level of integrity in helping to create Okuna!

So, then you ask me 'Who is Phil Zimmerman?' Well, Zimmerman is considered the 'Father of PGP' and the initials stand for (get this!) Pretty Good Privacy. Which is exactly what it is! Almost all privacy software follows his OpenPGP standard for encryption and decryption to protect the privacy of emails, data files, drives and instant messaging. Those Symantec products with encryption that you see for your PC uses a public key encryption program created back in 1991 by Zimmerman. So yea, he is most definitely the 'Father of PGP'!

“We need an alternative to the social network work revenue model that we have today,” he adds. “The problem with having these deep machine learning neural nets that are monitoring our behaviour and pulling us into deeper and deeper engagement is they already seem to know that nothing drives engagement as much as outrage.

“And this outrage deepens the political divides in our culture, it creates attack vectors against democratic institutions, it undermines our elections, it makes people angry at each other and provides opportunities to divide us. And that’s in addition to the destruction of our privacy by revenue models that are all about exploiting our personal information. So we need some alternative to this.”

- Phil Zimmerman, TechCrunch

Okuna Tip

I should also add that not only is Okuna the next in line for becoming the biggest social media site because it protects all that we CAN'T see, they are also big on using revenue to help carry us into the next era: Cryptocurrency.

Imagine reading something you like and using digital currency to tip the writer? Never having to worry about your information being hacked and stolen? All the digital information is safe and secure, no paper trail or lost credit card numbers!

I know about zip when it comes to cryptocurrency but I'm getting there! What I do know is that it costs a ton of money to send money to our loved ones in hard-to-reach locations and there's always a wait. Then there's the dollar denomination when it's an entirely different country! Even using an app connected to your bank, there's a big fat charge and long wait.

A company named Celo already uses their digital currency. You can read more from this article. It allows people to send money from one user to another using cellphone numbers and their cryptocurrency. No denomination issues! Celo's CGLD is also in a rivalry with Facebook's Libra and we all know Facebook is in all sorts of trouble!

Okuna App

Enough about Okuna's revenue model when there are current issues such as YOU looking up Okuna on your device's app store and downloading it! And then of course, send your invites out to get others onboard! You can check the link for Okuna below:

Did you like what you read? If you did, why not leave me a tip? If not, you can check out my profile to see what else you like!