You hear many users of the SDF Public Access UNIX System talk about how much
they appreciate SDF, especially in contrast to commercial social networks 
like Facebook.  Often, distaste for the commercial alternatives is due to 
well-known concerns about privacy practices, or due to the firehose of
stupid and even propagandistic content that flows through the commercial
sites.  With the right awareness campgaign, could a non-profit, ethically-
responsible social network like SDF[1] grow and attract users away from 
something like Facebook?  What would the results look like, and would they
be positive?

A skeptical person might ask, if SDF is so good, why hasn't it already 
attracted a larger user base?  Some answers to this question might include:

1. many SDF services require a membership fee, while sites like Facebook are
   (nominally) free,
2. SDF has a relatively small membership, while on Facebook "everyone you
   know is already there",
and,
3. users must learn some UNIX computing fundamentals before benefiting from 
   SDF -- i.e. SDF takes effort; while Facebook is easy.

But if you're reading this, you probably don't need to be convinced that 
"negatives" like these hardly detract from the benefits of an SDF membership.
So what are the reasons that SDF users like it so much?

My guess is that there are as many answers to this question as there are 
users on SDF.  I may post this question on the SDF bboard some day, because
I would love to hear what others think.  Some of my own reasons include:

1. SDF provides you a place to learn, even almost admonishing you if you don't
   try to figure things out on your own -- mental exercise,
2. it provides you with a large number of tools for all sorts of productivity
   and creative expression -- i.e. UNIX and open-source software,
3. *you* can decide what you share and who you share it with. Period. End of
   Sentence.,
4. it is free of low-value, blinky, clickbait content that wastes your time,
and, I have to say it,
5. SDF has many, many games (with no in-app purchases!).

Despite all of this, SDF's membership numbers are a drop in the ocean compared
to Facebook.  SDF does have quite a few dedicated and enthusiastic members 
though.  Over the past few hours at the time of writing this, around 131 unique 
users had logged into the Meta Array and 297 had logged into the main cluster[2].

I suspect that the UNIX learning curve is a barrier to entry that keeps more 
people from using SDF.  Facebook doesn't have such a barrier. It is easy -- you 
log in, you fill in some form fields with your thoughts, your personal 
information, your photos, etc., and Facebook mines your information "for you", 
providing you with more content based on "your interests".  It's easy. It 
spoonfeeds you.  It even reminds you if you've forgotten to log in recently and 
share more.

But Facebook's low barrier to entry means that everyone gets in, including 
people who don't try very hard to make interesting, meaningful contributions 
to shared content.  Often those people with the least to say are the loudest.  
And the competition for "likes" and friends ends up in a swirl of clickbait 
and memes.  (This noise was my original reason for getting out of Facebook.)

Maybe SDF's UNIX barrier to entry is part of what makes it so special.  Maybe 
a certain subtype of people have self-selected into it.  This selection process 
results in a group of members that are more analytical, more selective with what 
they pay attention to, more willing to put in the effort to do truly interesting 
things, and more aware of the potential of Internet and computing technology.

Would it be possible to increase the rate of new memberships in places like SDF?  
Would the average Facebook user (does that equate to the average person?) be 
willing to put in the effort to learn how to use UNIX?  Maybe that step of 
consciously moving from being a consumer of content to actively engaging and 
even producing it would be good for people.  But how to convince people to 
commit that acivation energy is not obvious to me.

It would be great if SDF were able to attract users away from profit-driven 
social networks like Facebook, but the barrier to entry to something like 
SDF might limit how many people could/would join.  Maybe this barrier to 
entry is part of what makes SDF such a special place.

--

Notes:
[1] http://sdf.org/?tutorials/social_network
[2] the numbers from deduping output of the 'last' command