Growing social media app vows to shake up ‘toxic’ status quo

The founder of a burgeoning social media app has pledged to help users end the “abusive relationship” existing platforms hold their users in, as it announced a new tech deal to aid its growth.

WeAre8, an emerging social media platform which pledges to give people control over their data, has been backed by a US billionaire as part of efforts to shake up the social network market.

American billionaire businessman Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty has announced a new collaboration with the site and will use its blockchain technology with the aim of decentralising social media so that users on the platform are completely in control of their data.

Zoe Kalar, the app’s founder, told the PA news agency that the public had been in an “abusive relationship” with social media platforms for the last 15 years with user data and advertising earnings controlled by the tech firms, but claimed WeAre8 was changing this, particularly through its new link-up with Project Liberty.

WeAre8 does not rely on algorithms to serve users content; instead – across three feeds – it shows users curated videos around a set theme on one feed, content from accounts a user follows on a second and text-based posts and replies in a third.

It is part of efforts to eliminate “toxic content”, it says.

The app also enables users to choose if and when to watch adverts, and they are paid directly into an in-app wallet for doing so, with 60% of the site’s ad revenue being returned directly to users and being shared with charities and other projects.

“What Project Liberty have built on their blockchain technology is full data protection for the individual, so when it’s stored on their blockchain infrastructure, irrespective of us (the platform), you own yourself,” Ms Kalar told PA.

“And that was really important to us as part of our whole philosophy of ‘ultimate freedom’ – you own you outside of us, you can always go anywhere you want.

“We don’t want to control you like the way we all have been – humanity has been in an abusive relationship for the last 15 years.

“They (social media sites) have controlled us economically, they’ve controlled our creativity, they’ve controlled who we speak to, they’ve suppressed our voices and then they’ve controlled our data and our identity.

“But with our partnership with Frank, we’re giving full control back to you, and we’re giving you creative and economic freedom.”

Mr McCourt, who has expressed interest in taking over TikTok in the US if a proposed government ban comes into force next year, said: “WeAre8 is living proof of what a world free from Big Tech’s addictive algorithms can look like.

“By placing the power back in the hands of users, they can control their own experiences, choose what they engage with, and benefit financially from the content they consume.

“Project Liberty is honoured to join forces with WeAre8, reinforcing the potential for an internet rooted in user empowerment.”

Ms Kalar added that the increasing toxicity on social media meant this initiative was arriving at a critical time.

A number of other emerging social media platforms have reported sharp rises in user numbers in recent weeks following Elon Musk’s drastic realigning of X, formerly Twitter, as he used the platform to support US President-elect Donald Trump, but also spread misinformation and engage with a number of online conspiracy theories.

As well as users, a number of high-profile organisations have announced they are withdrawing from the platform.

“I think we’re at the most critical point in humanity,” Ms Kalar said on the current state of social media.

“The loudest voices are screaming, and they’re winning.

“Kids are literally, tragically dying and no-one is feeling heard, or valued or loved.

“They’ve cleverly addicted us to our own egos.

“They created this race of ‘how many followers do you have?'”

This was in contrast to how WeAre8 was designed, she said.

Ms Kalar added: “We don’t want to keep people scrolling for four hours a day.

“We want you scrolling for 10 minutes.

“Get inspired, link off, go and discover stuff.

“Go and live your life.

“Watch a couple of ads, get money in your wallet, use it to pay a bill, join a good conversation, learn something and go and walk through the forest.

“That’s life.

“We’ve forgotten we’re alive.”