Wikipedia co-founder wants to give you an alternative to Facebook and Twitter
Fed up with Facebook and Twitter? If so, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales hopes you’ll join WT:Social, a new social media platform that promises not to run advertisements or sell user data.
WT:Social features a Facebook-like feed on which users can share news or other content. But unlike Facebook, whose algorithms prioritise content that’s sponsored or receiving a lot of engagement, WT:Social simply shows new content first.
This content comes from various sections of the platform (called subwikis) that users choose to join. (A few I found while browsing. The platform will also allow users to “directly edit misleading headlines, or flag problem posts.”
Instead of optimising our algorithm to addict you and keep you clicking, we will only make money if you voluntarily choose to support us — which means that our goal is not clicks but actually being meaningful to your life,
WT:Social is a reboot of WikiTribune, a crowdfunded news-sharing service that Wales launched in 2017, but has since struggled and laid off editorial staffers. The ultimate goal for WT:Social, Wales suggested, is to serve as a replacement for Facebook and Twitter.
What do you think of this social network model and would you be prepared to pay to have an ad free non data sharing network? Let us know in the comments. You can join us on WT:Social by hitting the button below.
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November 24, 2019
Sounds like an interesting model but I’m not sure how well it will take off, and I can’t see many users voluntarily paying for a social media platform x
Sophie
November 25, 2019
Hi Sophie,
I thought the same it is a good idea to try and move away from the advertising and data model but we are so used to things just working and being kinda free. I think this one may be bit of a niche platform for more serious conversations. But you never know.
Charles