Facebook Challenger Zurker Ratifies Constitution

Zurker, the social network startup owned by its members, has taken a major step forward. Zurker members voted to approve the Zurker Constitution, with 57,059 or 94.57% of votes cast in favor of ratification. A total of 60,330 votes were cast by the deadline of 1:00 PM UTC on November 22, 2013.

The Zurker Constitution is a charter document defining the governance of Zurker, whose slogan is "Democracy Makes Us Different." The Zurker Constitution was drafted entirely by members. Co-founder Nick Oba, who also serves as administrator of Zurker, was not involved in the writing of the Constitution.

"This is a huge milestone for the community," said Oba. "Never before in history have the members of a social network specified the principles governing its management and usage."

Zurker is a crowdfunded social network and has positioned itself as an ethical, non-invasive alternative to Facebook.

According to the About page on Zurker, the social network's raison d'etre is to serve the members who use it, not the advertisers who provide the revenue. The Zurker platform is designed to protect the privacy of its users and guarantees their Freedom of Speech.

Unlike other social networks, which are known to practice invasive data mining, Zurker does not store IP addresses beyond 72 hours or attempt to garner as much personal information about its members as possible. Members are not even asked their gender or date of birth when opening an account.

The Zurker Constitution guarantees the rights of the members, provides a framework for elections, and requires the social network to compete ethically.

"Zurker is proof that things can be different," Oba wrote in a blog post celebrating the ratification. "You have proven that a social network can operate without invading members' rights. You have shown the world that we can do things the behemoths of Silicon Valley can't. The future belongs to us."