The co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, has unveiled a new social network that’s designed to go against the ad-funded models loved by Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the social network seems to take its cues from the donation-based editable content found on Wikipedia which – while not quite a beacon of trust – is already a household name when it comes to reading up on any and every subject under the sun. WT:Social is funded by its users, and every post is editable – by everyone.
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This was 2 days ago. 48 hours ago. I'm happy to announce we just passed 160,000 members! And it isn't slowing down yet.
On Monday we're going to ramp up the speed of admission on the waiting list, but you can skip ahead by inviting more people. https://t.co/WUU33sTS2m
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) November 17, 2019
Wales plans to use the ad-free model to fight back against the “fake news and low quality content” that can be found, well, all over on its competitors’ sites.
As a social network, WT:Social will presumably be home to more voices and opinions than Wikipedia. It isn’t yet clear how the user-moderated content system will tackle conflicting opinions and where the community will draw the line on fake news.
Wales explained the thought process behind WT:Social in a Twitter thread shared earlier this month.
“Existing social networks work on a pure advertising business model”, explained Wales. “This drives them to addict you, to keep you on the site. Their incentives are in the direction of outrage, radical discourse, trolling − not your human flourishing”.
“But I have a different idea: if only *some* people pay (maybe you! maybe not! pay if you want) then it can be free for everyone else. I think the people who will pay will be the ones who care the most about fixing the broken Internet culture that leads horribleness.”
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WT:Social is currently working on its infrastructure, leaving free users in a waiting list at the moment, but there is an option to skip the list by subscribing to the service or by inviting others to create an account.
A subscription will set you back £10 a month or £80 a year in the UK.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
