This past week a new social network, Minds, has come onto the scene in another attempt to usurp Facebook’s near-monopoly on the market. Minds hopes to succeed where other past contenders ( google+ and ello ) have failed quite miserably.

And to tell you the truth, they might have a chance at success.

So what does Minds do differently that gives them the edge? Well the key is privacy, security, and transparency; an approach that quickly interested hacktivist group Anonymous. With end-to-end encryption in their messaging system, Minds new network could provide a major boon for an entity that attempts to operate in the shadows, a group that even goes so far as to keep their identity hidden from each other.

But there is reason for excitement from the average web user as well. With the encryption on Minds, a users actions are shielded from advertisers and government agencies who want to use your information to make money of you and build a database of your life’s activity.

Perhaps even more exciting is the fact that Minds is open-source, something that I believe creates the strongest innovations possible. (Even Elon Musk releases his patents!) The Transhumanist future belongs to those who are willing to share their genius and creativity, working together as one massive hive-mind to fix problems and create new innovations. And this could be a major step in that direction.

Anonymous ART of Revolution posted something to this very affect on their facebook page saying, “Anonymous is initiating a call to hackers, designers, creators and programmers to unite worldwide. Let us collaborate on the code of Minds.com and build a top site that is truly of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Could Minds become the new go-to method of organizing activism? Perhaps the new platform could be the launching pad for a great deal of revolutionaries, a major aid in the shifting of the zeitgeist.

But Minds revolutionary approach to social networking doesn’t stop there. They’re also trying to give the reigns back to the user by giving us control of our own reach.

“For every mobile vote, comment, remind, swipe & upload you earn points which can be exchanged for views on posts of your choice. It’s a new web paradigm that gives everyone a voice,” says the team at Minds.

This means the more active you are, the more your voice can be heard. Quite a refreshing alternative compared to the questionable algorithms that dictate what’s seen on Facebook.

The deign is clean as well. It never deviates from a sleek 3-column layout no matter where you navigate. Another win over Facebook whose interface is a wall of options that create a nearly unnavigable eye-sore at times.

It’s still early in the game to be predict what will happen, but I must say I’ve not even been so excited about a social network as I am about Minds. This level of community empowerment, that escapes the capitalistic model of advertising and selling your data, is something we’ve been lacking in the current social network for sometime now. And it’s something I fully support.

The web version is live, as are the iOS and Android apps.

You can find me here. I’d love to start building a network with you and seeing if we can’t change the world together.

Leave some comments and let me know what you think. Does Minds have a chance of being the new social network of choice?