It has been said that if Mark Zuckerberg had his way, everything on the internet would be public. Your photos, your status, your personal details – everything would be available for all your friends (and everyone else) to view. Why? Because his goal is to make the world “more social”, and opening up access to everyone is the easiest way to do this.

Obviously, there is still some resistance to this…and understandably so! This unease is even more pronounced when the content in question is photos of your nearest and dearest. While some people are more than happy putting baby photos up on Facebook, others are more reticent especially given recent media coverage of privacy issues on some social media sites.
This situation has opened the door for applications that want to take a different approach to appeal to their customers. One example of a start-up taking advantage of this is 23snaps (www.23snaps.com). The idea of the app is to take photos of your children, documenting the key moments in their lives. The app (currently iPhone only, with email digests for non-iPhone users) will then update your network with the photos you have taken.

Where 23snaps differs from Facebook is in their approach to privacy and their focus on keeping your network small. They encourage you to only connect with your close friends and family, rather than everyone you know. If you decide to leave 23snaps at any point, you can drop them an email and they will permanently delete all your content – something that Facebook is a little less enthusiastic about.

In this day and age, with new start-ups appearing for every imaginable niche, it is a good idea to look around before using a new service – there may be a better fit for you just around the digital corner.