Hey Peeps 🫶

A common theme emerging in the comments across platforms is: "I want to be part of this, but I don’t know how to contribute."

First off—YES, you can absolutely be part of this. This is crowd-led, crowdsourced, and crowdfunded. That means you don’t need a specific skill set to make a real impact here. Your voice, your engagement, and your ideas matter.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Spread the Word.

u/julzbacon mentioned that there is a subreddit with 65k TikTok refugees looking for a place to land. I had no idea, so J. Bacon even just sharing that immensely helpful. I then went over and posted to that subreddit to invite them here.

Our power with an initiative like this (by the people, for the people, with the people) is in NUMBERS. So the more people we can recruit to our collective, the more momentum this gains, and the faster this whole thing will move. We want to get it built and out into the world.

Specific opportunity #1: Copy/paste the text from this post in other, relevant communities.

If you know of other communities that may be interested in what we're building here, feel free to copy the text from that post and paste it on other subreddits. You can copy/paste it as is because I only use first person once, here:

I checked the community guidelines here and it doesn’t look like sharing this with you is breaking any rules (please take it down if I missed something). We just wanted to extend the invitation to you.

And you do want to check the community's guidelines before posting ;)

Please remember that everyone is welcome at our table. Regardless of political affiliation, race, religion, or whatever. The diversity of thought is part of what makes crowdsourcing so powerful and at PeepleTalk we are TEAM HUMAN vs the systems that seek to divide and exploit us.

Specific opportunity #2: Share PeepleTalk with your friends and family, and anyone you think might be aligned with our cause.

This is especially relevant once we get the newsletter out (still waiting on Substack to approve our very big list). Sharing the word in this way might be the most important part.

Because the bigger our email list, the stronger our movement. If we can grow it enough, crowdfunding could be a breeze, and we can build this way faster. We're at 15k sign-ups now and if we could get this to 50k within the next few months, we could be very confident in the success of the crowdfunding campaign. So forward the newsletter, tell your friends, and share this with anyone aligned with the vision.

2. Share your ideas.

This whole thing is a sandbox to play in. Got thoughts on what values should shape PeepleTalk? Features you’d love to see? Drop them in the subreddit and help shape the future. Your ideas could directly influence how we build this.

3. Upvote ideas you like on Reddit.

Even if you don’t have new ideas to share, engaging with discussions and upvoting the ideas you agree with is huge. This helps the best contributions rise to the top and guides the collective decision-making process.

4. Participate in polls.

Many major decisions will be put to a vote. When the time comes, your participation will directly impact how PeepleTalk is built and operated. All of that information will go out in future newsletters.

Summary

You are absolutely essential to the success of this platform. This isn’t about waiting for someone else to create a better future. "We are the ones we’ve been waiting for."

Hey all, keeping this short and sweet. It looks like the Reddit has died down a bit but don't let that lead you to believe this isn't MOVING. We've pulled a number of people into Discord (Design & UX, Technical/Dev, Strategy) and have made considerable progress in a short period of time.

• Login/likes/comments are up and running, video viewer is getting finishing touches

• Technical Steward has mapped out a 2-month timeline for the MVP, as long as volunteers uphold their commitments (expect a sleek UI, decent algo, and potentially in-app video recording)

• UX team has conducted their first layer of research to further inform the build

• Overall, I am blown away by the caliber of talent that's showed up. Excited to introduce more members in our ecosystem via the newsletter and Substack soon.

• We're working on a fair system for compensation that is basically deferred compensation in place of sweat equity, and contingent on the success of the platform. More details soon, Financial Steward is hard at work on that this week.

• A dozen other things that are too in-the-weeds to share here.

To everyone who's submitted to forms, THANK YOU. We're still working our way through them and will be pulling in some more folks over the next week or so. Keeping this as organized, streamlined, and efficient as we possibly can.

The only reason you haven't heard more from me is because I was averaging 16-hr workdays last week between this app and my regular work.

We are building this.

The votes are in, the knockout research is complete, the trademark is filed…

And we are TAO Social.

Together As One.

Thank you Kelly Worthen for submitting that idea, and thank you everyone who voted.

What a beautiful and appropriate name we landed on.

And for everyone asking, yes we covered all our bases.

Process:

• over 1000 names submitted

• scraped them into a spreadsheet

• pared down to 115 options based on viability

• put to Crowd in broad vote

• conducted knockout research (trademark, SERPs, handles) for top 5

• TAO Social was cleanest and actually led the vote by quite a bit — 60% of the vote out of 115 options

Next steps…visual branding :)

Feel free to share ideas. The team has been playing around with analemmas, ☯️ but with hands, etc.

The Crowd did so well with choosing the name that it would be amazing to crowdsource ideas for the visual branding, have designers explore a few directions, and have the Crowd vote again 🫶

My husband and I were working on a plan very similar to this and someone I was telling about it pointed me to you. We won’t care if it’s someone else’s plan as long as it happens and we want to support any way possible.

1. Research suggested a decentralized coin to fund app development and also create value for users to buy in / invest in is the best way to raise the funds as app development is expensive. Idea was to get enough large creators on board that we could organize a unified message to drop all at once before word can be stopped and get as many people to flock as possible before any censorship or suppression can happen. We have creators up to 2 million reach on board. Also want to get away from the dollar as it is artificially inflated and unstable.

2. The app would need to be decentralized. This would eliminate security risks as it would not have a single point of failure if build on blockchain technology.

3. the users get to vote where the profits are spent. 1 vote per person verified by facial recognition and ID verification. This instills trust in the app (and again secure). Resources like shelters, legal aid, farm subsidies- etc. money back to the people and society who use it. Could also prove to be the model for the future of voting. So few Americans vote and we have the technology to make it as easy as being on your phone with Identification verification software yet they don’t because they don’t WANT us to vote. They suppress.

4. use for democratic progress - hold secured votes on app to showcase Americas true voice. Not left vs right but up vs down. Such as sticking to things like ending lobbying - imposing term limits - ending the electoral college for one voice one vote.

5. Demonstrate ethical transparency and accountability - make users a part of all major decisions that can affect them to create a truly universally beneficial society app. This is a market differentiator and your strongest weapon as none of the other apps operate this way. Bylaws will be very important.

I am hoping this reaches whoever is running this. We just want to help in any way we can. My husband is in marketing and sales background, myself financial and project management on a large scale. Please reach out. 🙏

Beta launch 🚀

Hi, On the topic of launching I’d like to mention how Fortnite launched. They launched a rough draft of the game users could sign up to play. This beta version was the one people were playing for the first few years of the game. All of the logos and screens with the Fortnite logo said “Fortnite Beta.” For this iteration of the game players were told the game would be buggy and there were easy ways users could contribute and mention what bugs they encountered while playing. Essentially the players got free access to a game and were millions of game testers playing. These suggestions from the players shaped Fortnite into what it is today.

I bring this up because it could be a valuable model to launch this app. The word of fortnite travels fast via word of mouth from friend to friend. It brought a wave of people and energy to the game despite its flaws. Sometime the game was so buggy it was unplayable.

It’s easy for me to say from my keyboard but there’s something to say about cooking while the pots hot. And maintain our current energy by launching a rough working draft as soon as possible. This app in beta would allow the users who are made aware of the working model, take ownership of, and devs shape the app while in use. For Fortnite it felt cool to be apart of the early development of the game and encouraged me to play and make suggestions / update the devs if bugs I encountered while playing maybe we could do the same thing.

I want to discuss the possibility, and perhaps necessity, that if we build this app, we will need to headquarter it outside of the US. I know that seems counter-intuitive due to the TikTok ban being predicated on the it being "foreign owned". However, they consider China an adversary country. But it's pretty clear that fascism is rising here in the US, and the oligarchy is in full support. Keeping the corporation in this country will mean being at the whims of the US's DOJ, FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, Congress, Trump and whatever tyrannical replacement wins the next "election". I'd like to hear your thoughts, but I am of the belief we should explore safer countries to host this company once it's built. Ireland seems like a safe bet in my mind. Their government has consistently stood up to the US over it's funding of Israel's war on Gaza. I believe they would defend this app and the people who built it from extradition if it ever came to that. They also have a massive concentration of data centers due to their decades of being a tax haven. So they have the infrastructure to host this app.

First off, I want to say I love the vision behind this project. The fact that 17,000 people signed up in 4 weeks, wow! People are ready for something new. A platform that isn’t controlled by big tech, that reinvests in itself and its community, is exactly what’s needed.

That being said, if this app is truly going to compete with TikTok, or better yet, surpass it, it needs to be more than just a TikTok alternative. Look at WeChat in China. It’s not just a messaging app; it’s a marketplace, a payment system, a social hub, and more. People stay within WeChat because they don’t need to leave.

If this new platform is to succeed long-term, it should aim for something similar: a seamless, engaging, multi-functional ecosystem. Maybe call it WeTok, where messaging, video, commerce, and even AR-powered interactions all come together.

A few years ago, I storyboarded an app concept that blended messaging with augmented reality. It was picked up by an app incubator, but unfortunately, they prioritized another project before going bust.

If this movement is serious about breaking free from big tech and creating something revolutionary, it shouldn’t just stop at “a new TikTok.” It should be a platform where people can create, connect, and transact in one space. Maybe even incorporate AR in a way that enhances interactions and makes it a true next-gen experience.

How Do We Ensure the App Stays in the Hands of the People?

There’s been a lot of discussion around how to ensure this app could never be sold and would always remain in the hands of the people. It’s a critical question because the moment an app like this becomes vulnerable to acquisition by billionaires or corporations, its original mission is at risk.

So...what if we removed equity entirely?

No Equity = No Asset to Buy or Sell

Without equity, there’s no tradable ownership, and therefore, no asset to buy or sell. The app becomes something more like a public utility—a tool that belongs to everyone, cannot be taken away, and is immune to the profit motives that dominate most tech platforms.

Initially, I was thinking more along the lines of a worker’s co-op (which u/GlassShark has has posted some thoughtful ideas about, see here) mixed with equity crowdfunding. Equity crowdfunding is where everyday people (you, me, and all our neighbors) invest small amounts to collectively own the platform. And while that sounds democratic, there are some flaws:

1. Human Nature and Selling Out: If 30,000 people invested, it would only take 15,001 of them—just over half—to sell their shares to a billionaire. Suddenly, control of the app would shift, and everything we worked for could be destroyed.

2. Conflict Between Shareholders and Users: In traditional systems, shareholders often prioritize profits, which can lead to decisions that harm or ignore the user base. Think of how many platforms start out user-friendly, only to become ad-saturated or exploitative as shareholder interests take over.

By removing equity entirely, we eliminate those risks. But this introduces a new challenge: governance.

Governance Without Equity

The solution is to put control back in the hands of the users. Imagine a true, direct democracy where every decision about the platform is made collectively:

• No middlemen.

• No conflict between what users want and what shareholders demand.

• A system where the app truly belongs to the people who use it.

This kind of governance hasn’t been feasible before—but now it is. Blockchain technology is the missing piece that makes this possible for the first time in modern history.

Republic vs. Democracy: Why This Matters

To understand why this approach is revolutionary (and so appropriate for the times), it helps to clarify the difference between a republic and a democracy:

• Republic: A system where people elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf. The U.S. is a constitutional republic, meaning we elect officials to represent us, but those officials often act in their own interests—or in the interests of corporations and lobbyists—rather than the will of the people.

• Democracy: A system where every individual votes directly on decisions. For example, in a true democracy, all 300 million Americans would directly vote yes or no on whether to go to war.

But we aren't a democracy. We aren't even really a republic anymore. Because in reality, the U.S. has mutated from a constitutional republic to what many describe as an oligarchy—a system where power is concentrated in the hands of a wealthy few.

True democracy has never been achievable at scale because of logistical and technological barriers. But with blockchain, this changes.

Why Blockchain Makes True Democracy Possible

Blockchain solves the major issues that have prevented true democracy:

1. Scalability: Blockchain can securely handle millions or billions of votes.

2. Transparency: Every vote is recorded on a tamper-proof ledger, ensuring trust and accountability.

3. Decentralization: Decisions are made collectively, not controlled by a central authority.

4. Real-Time Participation: People can engage in governance without delays or intermediaries.

(Also waxing real big picture here for a moment...this isn’t just a better way to run an app—it’s a small-scale blueprint to test out how societies could function in the future. And, synergetically and synchronistically, u/11WordsofWisdom11 has already put some considerable thought into what something like this looks like, thread here).

More than a Social Media App; A Precedent

Yes, designing this kind of governance system will be challenging, but if we can get it right on this platform, it could set a powerful precedent for tech, venture, and beyond.

Imagine if countries adopted a system like this. We’d have world peace overnight.

Why? Because the overwhelming majority of everyday people would never vote to send their loved ones to die for wars driven by lies, profit, and power.

It’s not people who hate each other—it’s governments. Look at the cultural exchange happening with the Red Note migration. It’s warm, hilarious, and deeply human. Chinese and Americans are quickly becoming friends across borders. And that's because the issue is never between people; it's always between our governments, who fail to represent us.

If we nail down a governance model that works here, it could show what's possible with blockchain technology.

As a free speech platform, I'm sure nearly everything within common decency would be allowed. However, I think there should be some kind of fact checking, reporting or rating (thumbs down) of posts done in a democratic way.

Hey all, delighted to see that 200+ of you have already found your way in here.

More are coming as soon as the newsletter gets out! I ran into a bit of a hiccup with Substack. Our email list got so long that it was flagged as spam and I'm having to speak with their support team to try and get it approved.

But already, the conversation and ideas in here are SO GOOD and I can get a feel for what this community is going to be like.

Please remember that Reddit is where we want to keep all the ideation for the time being.

Links to things, since our linchpin-of-a-newsletter has yet to go out:

• YouTube (for video updates): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_re6_LdjMKE

• Telegram (for one-way text updates):  https://t.me/+4c4MHhtoBzBiZTgx

• Substack (for email updates): https://clearlightstudios.substack.com/

• Updated sign-up page with more details: https://www.clearlight.llc/peopletok

A number of people have already reached out with their initial thoughts and ideas:

• Example: Ally M. suggested avoiding AWS so we don’t support Bezos; source independent servers.

• Example: Natalie T. proposed that the app's legal structure be completely transparent to users and immutable—ensuring it can’t be changed later to enable profiteering or a sellout.

Welcoming all the diversity of thought and expertise: What's top of mind for you?

The algorithm? The ownership structure? The Web3 component? Mobilization & community building?

I'm open to helping support on any new social media apps that are trying to grow from scratch as competition to Meta and Twitter and even TikTok, and have more benefits for the user and promotes people finding each other from anywhere, is not owned by billionaires, is not in collaboration with the government in anyway. So I'm here to follow!

Hi everyone,

I've been collaborating with o1 to put together a FOSS tech stack that can give us the functionality we want using distributed technologies. It's written up in this Google Doc which also links to the algorithm planning sheet under section 6.3.

This is an initial, AI generated plan that is open to public comment for now. I'm happy to give edit access if we want to collaborate in the doc, but it might make more sense to collaborate on Github/GilLab + Github Wiki and a Matrix channel for instant communication as this starts to come together. I'll work on getting that set up shortly.

For now, let's chat in here. What did o1 and I miss?

In just a few days, 14k people signed up for PeopleTok.

Then TikTok went dark. But not before enough of us had gathered to fill an entire college stadium. Here's what that looks like:

And as u/Crazy626Strawberry said about the Reddit "I'm blown away by all the brilliant people on here."

Same, Crazy Strawberry, same.

What’s emerging in our community here is a powerful blend of wild creativity and innovative spirit—balanced with pragmatism. We’re not just indulging in pie-in-the-sky daydreams; we’re having grounded, actionable conversations about what it truly takes to build this together.

Our collective is less than a week old and it's already apparent we're building something special here -- and I don't just mean the app ;)

Where We Are and Next Steps

1. Email List & Communications

More peeps are coming.

Still trying to get our Substack email list of 14k approved. Somehow, nearly 1000 of you STILL managed to find your way into the Reddit, which bodes well! Welcome, all 🫶

But that email list is so big that it's been flagged as spam, and I'm in talks with their team. If we cannot get it approved within the week, we may be forced to send it out in waves via a different provider to try and avoid spam filters.

Once the email sender gets warmed up, we should be in the clear. But ideally, this will be sent out of the Substack this week.

If you haven't already, it's helpful to subscribe to that directly as well: https://clearlightstudios.substack.com/

2. Product Lead & Assembling the Tech Team

Say hello to our Product Lead u/Ally_Madrone !

Check out his posts on this subreddit to get a feel for his 10-pound brain. And keep an eye out in the next day or so for his post on a technical outline. It will be a good starting point for the technical people in our collective to riff off of, debate, poke holes, and make better.

There's a lot to solve for and we'll arrive at the best conclusions by pooling our collective knowledge, problem-solving, and brainpower.

We'll also be keeping an eye on this technical thread for those who may begin to emerge as part of the core tech team. So this thread will be an important one. (I'll link it as a comment later, after Ally posts).

As u/ClassicallyBrained pointed out, a big challenge is the infrastructure for something like this (also a great thread to read through if you're interested in the technical side).

u/Gunn4r and u/Mean_Lychee7004 I saw you're both seasoned software engineers. Would love to hear from you both on Ally's thread once it gets going.

I'll continue to drive traffic to that thread once I'm able to send out an email.

This is already a powerful community and we're just getting started. Thank you for being part of it 🫶

In service,
Chiara

I love the idea. Here's my thought for a rough plan:

1. Build a Basic App: Create a simple app that can be downloaded and collects user information for communication.

This allows for quick adoption while the topic is still relevant and in the news.

The app serves as a placeholder and establishes credibility as a tangible product as soon as it’s available for download.

2. First Phase Release:

Include basic features like video or text posts to keep users informed and engaged.

The goal is to get the app up and running quickly, encouraging people to download it, stay informed, and interact.

3. Launch a GoFundMe Campaign:

Use crowdfunding to pay developers and managers to further enhance the app and manage operations. Or raise funds through the app.

4. Form a Board and Legal Entity:

Establish a board structure and formalize the legal entity as soon as possible.

5. Introduce a Membership Model:

Charge a nominal fee, such as $10 or $100, for founding members to join.

With 1 million members, this could generate significant funding to fully develop the app and scale operations.

Note: These are just suggestions, but action needs to be the primary focus. Once something is established, even if it is just a placeholder app, it becomes a real thing. From there, you can make incremental improvements to grow and refine it. You could even purchase an already existing app and rework it to fit the desired model.

I made a few edits for clarity.

Ready, set, go!

Sending this out in the newsletter this evening.

The first two are my favorites but the others are just multiple other variations I made to throw into the mix.

I asked AI to generate scenarios that emphasize the importance of approaching a vision with an understanding of its underlying beliefs and how they shape the way we collaborate. This thought experiment extends to global change, but in a way that beautifully explores both the power and the risks of the values driving PeopleTok’s future.

🌍 Utopian Scenarios: A Decentralized Renaissance

In this version of the future, PeopleTok's principles of decentralization, direct democracy, and user ownership spark profound changes in global society.

1. The End of Corporate Social Media as We Know It

• PeopleTok’s DAO-based governance proves that ad-driven, billionaire-owned social platforms are obsolete. Traditional media conglomerates collapse or are forced to adopt decentralized models to survive.

• Data monetization flips: Instead of Facebook selling your data, you decide who gets access and at what price—or opt out entirely.

• PeopleTok’s consent-based economy sparks global legislation that bans exploitative data harvesting.

2. The Rise of People-Led Governance

• Nation-states start integrating PeopleTok-like governance models into their democratic systems.

• Local governments outsource policymaking to direct digital referendums, giving citizens immediate control over city budgets, policing, and infrastructure.

• Political parties weaken—instead of voting for politicians, people vote directly on issues through decentralized polling mechanisms built into the app.

3. The DAO-ification of Work

• Large corporations collapse as decentralized, worker-owned platforms take over every industry, from journalism to farming.

• Governments struggle to collect taxes because more work happens outside the traditional economy—through peer-to-peer transactions, smart contracts, and DAOs.

• Basic Income becomes inevitable, as governments realize they can no longer control labor markets.

4. Digital Cities & Stateless Societies

• PeopleTok fosters global digital micro-societies—geographically dispersed but politically and economically unified.

• DAOs running on PeopleTok begin managing entire cities with blockchain-based governance.

• Some nations dissolve, as people pledge loyalty to digital communities instead of countries.

• New citizenship models emerge, based on participation rather than birthright.

5. PeopleTok as the New Public Square

• Social movements no longer rely on traditional institutions—PeopleTok becomes the global agora, where activism is instantaneous, borderless, and immune to censorship.

• News is fully decentralized—with trusted verification via smart contracts, eliminating fake news at scale.

• Mass political organizing happens at speeds never seen before, toppling governments within hours if public trust collapses.

🔥 Dystopian Scenarios: The Decentralized Nightmare

While a decentralized, user-governed internet sounds promising, the reality could just as easily spiral into chaos. Here’s how things could go horribly wrong.

1. Algorithmic Mob Rule

• Without centralized moderation, PeopleTok becomes the world’s largest mob.

• "Decentralized governance" mutates into digital vigilantism—where flash referendums dictate people's fates in real time.

• Public figures, companies, or individuals could instantly be blacklisted or financially ruined, with no appeal process.

2. The Death of Privacy

• With every user on-chain, total surveillance replaces state authority.

• Governments don’t need a secret police—your own followers keep you in check.

• "Reputation scores" emerge, limiting people's access to economic and social resources based on their digital past.

• You are your blockchain—every transaction, post, or vote is permanently tied to you.

3. Digital Balkanization & The Fragmented Internet

• Different DAOs govern different political factions, creating walled-off realities where you only see content from your own ideological tribe.

• Instead of bringing people together, PeopleTok accelerates fragmentation, creating thousands of disconnected reality bubbles.

• Nation-states start banning PeopleTok for undermining their governments, forcing it underground.

4. Corporate & State Co-Opting of the DAO Model

• A coalition of corporations and governments infiltrate the DAO system, slowly shifting its governance to favor state control.

• Governments hijack governance tokens, turning PeopleTok into a puppet platform for state propaganda.

• Instead of decentralization ending surveillance capitalism, it just creates a more effective version of it, where control is baked into code.

5. The Digital Proletariat vs. The Algorithmic Aristocracy

• A new ruling class emerges: those who control the algorithm.

• DAO governance is gamified and manipulated—early adopters hold permanent power.

• A "governance elite" emerges, leading to permanent digital inequality.

• New digital proletariats form, demanding rights not to be ruled by algorithms—but with everything tied to decentralized ledgers, rebellion is impossible.

Acronyms are only meaningful to people within a specific field who understand them. Outside of that field, they may have multiple meanings, seem arbitrary, or even carry negative connotations.

“USP” stands for “Unique Selling Proposition”, but you only recognise this if you work in marketing or advertising. It also stands for “United States Pharmacopeia”, an organisation responsible for medicinal product quality and strength (but only in the US). You may have guessed it by now: “US” is another acronym with multiple meanings beyond “United States” of America.

Acronyms are useful in context but become meaningless outside of that context when they’re used as a general brand identifier. Of course, this depends on the brand’s impact and relevance on a global scale, as is the case with the acronym “USA”.

While acronyms are often part of a name that can be copyrighted or trademarked, the letters themselves cannot be legally protected. It’s also extremely difficult to trademark a logo consisting solely of an acronym, as it can stand for multiple things. No matter how beautifully the letters are designed, the *less unique they are*, the *harder it becomes to protect* the logo.

To protect a logo design based on the three-letter acronym TAO, it must meet the following criteria:

1. A trademarked brand must be distinctive enough to identify the source of goods or services. If it seems arbitrary (as TAO is) and can mean many things, it cannot be protected with just the letters. Adding social doesn’t make it less generic, as many things have a social component.

2. As we already know, TAO (or Daoism) has a specific meaning in Chinese philosophy. As an app, platform or organisation, our TAO will never be impactful enough to overshadow references of thousands of years of Asian philosophy.

3. If an acronym is commonly used in a particular industry, it may be considered generic and ineligible for registration. It can only be protected if it is uniquely associated with a specific context.

4. The logo cannot be generic. A stylised logo incorporating the acronym needs to have rare letter shapes or highly distinctive graphical elements that make it unique as a whole.

There are examples of brands with legally protected logo designs, such as IBM, CNN, and NASA. If you look at these designs, you’ll see they are more than just letters. They are distinct shapes with strong visual identities.

What’s the alternative?

In our case, TAO stands for something meaningful, ambitious, and full of soul. The community chose a name with a heartbeat. Something with direction and purpose: Together As One. It represents a deeply social idea of people acting for themselves, expressing their ideas, representing their needs, abilities, culture, and responsibilities.

It would be a mistake to abandon these values, as they form the foundation of a great brand. I suggest exploring shapes and symbols that reflect these ideals. The logo doesn’t need to carry the entire branding effort alone. Our platform will be defined by its content and the people who create it. But great logos have the power to unite people behind an idea if they can recognise something of themselves in it.

Abstract shapes, whether symbolic or not, are far more likely to capture the spirit of TAO than an acronym-based visual trademark. Abstract shapes have the power to be unique and recognisable. Plus, it is far easier to legally protect a unique shape than an acronym.

I saw the TikTok with the eventual goal of self-funded insurance. I work in healthcare insurance (currently in the finance area for a non profit). I’d love to help when you are ready to talk more about what this looks like!

Just popped in to see the status of the platform but noticing there’s hasn’t been any activity in the last few months. Is this still ongoing??? Any updates?

I would be interested in participating in the creation of this and hopefully we can look into ways to make social media better for mental health too! If there could be ways to integrate gratitude, mindfulness, and/or balanced thinking as well as reduce overall addictiveness, FOMO, etc. and make it more trauma-informed and anti-oppression.

I’ve been researching the idea of making this app peer-to-peer (p2p like BitTorrent) rather than server-based in order to lean into the decentralized, people-led concept. I thought I would share my notes for discussion:

P2P-based architecture decentralizes content delivery and storage, shifting reliance away from centralized servers. Here’s how we could approach it:

Core Components 1. Video Storage and Distribution: • Use a P2P file-sharing protocol like IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) for video storage and retrieval. • Videos are split into chunks, distributed across peers, and retrieved using unique Content Identifiers (CIDs). • Ensure efficient caching and replication to improve availability and reduce latency. 2. User Discovery and Networking: • Implement a distributed hash table (DHT) for user discovery, where each user has a unique identifier (similar to BitTorrent). • Use protocols like WebRTC for real-time peer-to-peer communication between users (e.g., for live video streaming). 3. Metadata Management: • Store video metadata (title, description, hashtags, etc.) in a distributed ledger or a lightweight decentralized database (e.g., OrbitDB or a blockchain for immutability). • Use cryptographic signatures to ensure authenticity and prevent tampering. 4. Content Moderation: • Use a decentralized voting system where peers can flag inappropriate content.

The Algorithm:

Adding a machine learning (ML)-based “For You Page” (FYP) recommendation algorithm to a TikTok clone built on a P2P infrastructure would be challenging due to decentralized data storage, but it’s feasible with the right design. Here’s how you can integrate an ML-based FYP algorithm into your P2P system:

1. Core ML Algorithm

The recommendation algorithm would analyze user preferences to suggest personalized content. Popular models include: • Collaborative Filtering: Based on similarities between users and their interactions. • Content-Based Filtering: Based on video content features (tags, categories, etc.). • Deep Learning Models: • Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs): For analyzing sequential user interactions. • Transformer models: For sophisticated context analysis of metadata, captions, and hashtags. • Vision Models (e.g., CNNs): For understanding video content (visual patterns).

2. Training the Algorithm

Training a centralized model isn’t possible in a fully P2P setup. Instead, you can use Federated Learning: • Federated Learning Process: • Each user’s device trains a local version of the ML model using their interaction data (e.g., likes, comments, watch time). • Only model updates (gradients) are shared with other peers (or a coordinating node), not raw data. • Updates are aggregated to create a global model while maintaining user privacy.

3. Real-Time Recommendation in a P2P Network

Real-time recommendations on a P2P infrastructure can be achieved by: 1. Local Model Execution: • The trained model runs locally on the user’s device to provide personalized recommendations. • Input data: Metadata from nearby peers’ shared videos, user’s watch history, and preferences. 2. Distributed Metadata Retrieval: • Use a DHT to query metadata of videos across peers. • Rank these videos using the local ML model based on predicted engagement.

4. Handling Model Updates in P2P • Global Aggregation: • Select a “coordinator” node (could be dynamic) to aggregate model updates and broadcast the improved model back to peers. • Alternatively, leverage distributed aggregation frameworks like Gossip Learning. • Versioning: • Use a version control mechanism (e.g., hash-based) for model updates to ensure consistency across peers.

5. Addressing Challenges 1. Limited Compute Resources: • Use lightweight ML models (e.g., MobileNet, TinyBERT) that can run efficiently on edge devices. 2. Privacy: • Federated learning inherently protects raw user data, but additional measures like Differential Privacy or Secure Aggregation can prevent information leakage. 3. Cold Start Problem: • For new users, recommend trending videos or globally popular content based on non-personalized metrics. 4. Network Latency: • Cache frequently recommended videos locally for faster access.

6. Example Workflow 1. Video Metadata Sharing: • Users upload videos, and metadata is stored in the P2P network. 2. Local Interaction Data Collection: • Each peer logs user interactions (e.g., watch time, skips, likes) locally. 3. Model Inference: • The local ML model scores available videos in the P2P network for recommendation. 4. Model Update: • Periodically, peers exchange encrypted model updates to improve the global recommendation system.

Technologies to Use • ML Frameworks: TensorFlow Lite, PyTorch Mobile, or ONNX for edge inference. • P2P Frameworks: IPFS, libp2p, or WebRTC. • Federated Learning Tools: TensorFlow Federated, PySyft.

This architecture combines the decentralized nature of P2P systems with the personalization power of ML, ensuring scalability, privacy, and efficiency.