Facebook is rotten from the core because it is rotten at the head. It is a very sad state of affairs that the one company that would have been able to be a force for good in all this ended up being run by someone who is so morally disconnected.
At this point in time it will take an act of God to fix it, the lock-in is very strong and their ability to buy up anything that even begins to compete with them serves to cement that lock-in to the point where I don't see a way of ever dislodging it.
> their ability to buy up anything that even begins to compete with them...
There is a key difference being being able to afford to buy anything, and actually being able to buy anything. The competing founders need to be willing to sell. If a competitor arises that is mission-driven, Facebook cannot buy them.
We haven't yet seen Facebook attempt to strangle a competitor that it cannot buy. If Facebook faces an existential threat, there is a lot of capital available to fund its defensive campaign. Buying is just cheaper.
A direct threat to Facebook is unlikely to succeed. More likely is a competitor based in a niche where Facebook cannot enter for structural reasons that slowly out-competes Facebook on Facebook's turf.
One possible niche is the privacy-focused community. Facebook can't flip all of those users, ever. If something privacy-focused emerges that has low-maintenance utility for the broader world, Facebook's days are numbered.
Privacy focused non-profit (open source?) social media platform that is easy to join, maybe there is a tool that scrapes your facebook profile and imports it automatically.
Can anyone help me brainstorm what features would be compelling for a privacy focused social media/event planning/group discussion platform?
Facebook's network graph is its single most-valuable asset. Responsibly placing it back into the hands of its users will require some subtle care, both to avoid Facebook's ire and to avoid abuse.
I'm presuming you are talking about a generic "you", and not referring to me personally, because I've been working in (mostly) mission-driven companies for a decade. I do take a hit on my compensation and wealth for it, with my spouse and children by my side the whole time.
But granted, mission-driven people are less common. To the point that many people who are not fundamentally mission-driven truly do not comprehend that some of us are. We all have our own motivations.
Most competing founders have a price. I would be morally torn myself if I had the choice between defending my ideals vs securing my family's financial future forever.
At this point in time it will take an act of God to fix it, the lock-in is very strong and their ability to buy up anything that even begins to compete with them serves to cement that lock-in to the point where I don't see a way of ever dislodging it.