We intended to wait until 2023 for this announcement, but the recent (un)developments at Twitter pushed us to move up our timeline. Cuota is a new kind of social media platform in the works with a mission that puts its users first.
Users Are Not the Product
We believe today’s social media networks are fundamentally undermined by their profit-motive. It has become commonplace for these networks to ignore what’s best for their users in order to better serve advertisers and to inflate their engagement numbers at all costs. This results in rampant fraud on the platforms and a push toward extremist content. For those that are part of publicly traded companies, the need for growth never ends despite an inherently limited userbase.
Cuota Will Not Be Profit-Driven
Our social media platform will not care about turning a profit. We will not seek investors or undergo an IPO. The only financial goal will be sustainable, which we hope to achieve through unobtrusive advertising and user donations.
We are currently a small team of nobodies. We don’t have deep pockets, and our skillset is limited to programming and development. This means our primary focus is building the working platform, but we also understand that much more will be required. One important aspect will be finding a lawyer for expert legal advice, particularly so we can plan out how best to structure the organization in order to maintain our vision. This could mean becoming a non-profit or a not-for-profit, but before that step is taken, we want to consult with an attorney.
The Future of the Web is Verified
While there can be value in and a need for anonymity on the Web, our belief is that with everyday social media, identity matters. We want to know that content we are consuming online is coming from a valid source, or at least a source that is who they say they are. This is the basis of true free speech, because when anyone with the time and money can operate social media troll farms of hundreds or even thousands of “fake accounts”, they are unfairly inflating their speech. Often times these accounts are specifically created to push a financial or political agenda, resulting in a bad user experience and inaccurate perception for all the real people using the platform.
With Cuota we will make user verification an inherent part of the network. Everyone will be who they say they are, so that users will be able to know the content they are seeing and sharing is coming from real people.
Brands Are Not Special
We will open Cuota up to brands and organizations, but they will not be given any extra attention or influence over regular users. In fact, we will most likely charge for-profit businesses a monthly or annual fee to participate on the platform. We know that users like to interact with and hear from their favorite brands, but we do not want our platform to become a place where businesses feel they are entitled to come and spam their product or service to everyone.
Corporations are not people, and they will not be treated as people on our platform.
Moderation is a Responsibility
Social media networks always cut corners when it comes to moderation. They put the majority of the work on unpaid volunteers, and their internal paid teams are slow and inconsistent with their moderating. This creates an environment where users are uncertain of their own standing in the community and their own safety.
At Cuota, we believe strongly that social media networks should be responsible for the content they allow on their platform. They should strive to moderate harmful content quickly, but also respect the free speech and expression of its users. This is why verification is an important cornerstone to Cuota.
We will never give out permanent bans because we believe that users should be given an opportunity to learn and grow. Temporary bans will be given out for serious infractions, such as hate speech or spam, which we hope will give the user time to reflect on how they want to interact with the world through our platform. The maximum ban possible will be one year.
However, we also want to have a mix of volunteer moderators and paid content teams to actively monitor content on the site in order to protect our users. Spam, hate speech, misinformation and harassment will not be tolerated.
Understand and Control Your Privacy
We live in a time where privacy online is a practical impossibility. This is compounded by Internet companies purposely creating vague terms of service and privacy policies that confuse their users. Their terms and interfaces are updated so often that it’s difficult for users to even be certain what is being shared with whom at any given moment. Combined with the fact that 100% of user data is up for sale to the highest bidder in order to monetize these platforms, there is little control left for those who want to protect their privacy.
With Cuota, we will always be fully transparent about how your data is used. Our relationship with advertisers will never allow them unfettered access to your information. In fact, we will specifically not allow behavior or psychographic targeting on the platform. Advertisers will be limited to anonymized demographic data such as location, gender and age. We will not “track you on the Web” because Cuota will not be gathering and selling that kind of data, ever.
We also are implementing a unique “Courts” feature for following and sharing content. You will have full control over the Courts you want to create and who has access to content posted for those Courts. This will allow you to keep content you share online limited to specific groups of people.
Users Should Share in the Revenue
While this feature is unlikely to be available during Beta, we do have revenue-sharing and monetization for creators as part of our Roadmap. We want to allow content creators to easily earn money from their followers and fans and give them a platform that will allow them to control access to subscriber-only content. This will also come with timer-specific options for content, so that subscribers can view your content immediately when posted and you can set a particular time period for when it automatically moves into public view for non-subscribers, with no additional effort on your part.
Be one of the first to join our Beta when it’s available. Join the waitlist today, and you’ll be contacted when a spot opens up.