Project TalkShop

 

"WHAT?!!! ANOTHER micro-blogging/Social Media platform?! Are you crazy?!"

I understand the reaction! But I have decided to go ahead with it anyway! 

I have been blogging since the 90s when the Internet was still a relatively unknown phenomena in India. I understand how blogging works and the limitations of various blogging platforms. I have also been an enthusiastic user of Social Media from the earliest days - I was on my[ ], Orkut, Facebook, Twitter and even some others which kids of today may never have heard of. I have seen the up & down cycle of the Social Media business and understand the risks involved! But TalkShop (working Title only) is NOT a business!

So What is TalkShop? TalkShop will be a News Syndication service, collating news from various public sources and providing a safe space for users to comment and write on current events, both in short & long form.

We have Medium for blogging don't we? And we also have the Bird App for micro-blogging?! Yes! And I have certainly been an enthusiastic user of both! However the Bird App has had numerous changes in the recent years which I will not go into here. And as many of us from India have seen since 2014, the Bird App has become a less safe place to express yourself! The Bird App and indeed others like FB have shown no hesitation in collaborating with Govt agencies of 3rd world dictatorships to get users arrested or worse! And now we have at least one celebrity owner of an SM app openly pushing narratives for a particular politician! Are these places safe anymore?

I understand! The Bird App, like all Social Media, is a Business at the end of the day! They have to collaborate with unsavory 3rd world Govts so as to not get blocked by the agencies there! And THAT imo is the problem. What we need is a platform for people to express themselves freely and that is only going to be possible when the platform is not owned by big business or corporate interests but by us collectively. 

"We the People" need a safe-space where we can express ourselves freely. And that is where "Project TalkShop" comes in! I am building a safe place for people to express themselves freely, either in long form articles or through short posts. TalkShop API will also be built from the ground-up to be integrated with "Community Websites" which we will build later. TalkShop will be more than just a micro-blogging platform! Its real utility will be as a tool to build Communities and enable Communities to talk both within themselves and with other Communities!

The platform will offer individuals complete freedom to post their views without bias! There will be no artificial throttling of Reach based on ideology or Type of content like what happens on the Bird App. We will not take down content or ban users for expressing themselves because some Govt of a 3rd world country deems them to be "anti-national"! 

I believe that its ok to believe in something when expressing yourself -  even when what you believe is Independence for Quebec, Scotland, Dravida Nadu, Khalistan or even Hindu Rashtra! Nothing wrong with believing in Secession or an alternative form of Govt! But we cannot and will not allow condoning acts of Violence on public platforms! We are only subject to US Law and we will never provide any of your private information or deny you access due to orders from random Tinpot dictatorships!

The ONLY restrictions will be on posting content condoning/promoting acts of violence, trafficking and Child p***ography.  There will be ZERO tolerance to intimidation of Women and religious, ethnic or Gender minorities on the platform!

We can do this without bias and because our platform is not a business nor a Govt entity but a public platform - open to all! The platform will be a Non-Profit and structured accordingly.

Should it be a paid subscription service? And what should this be priced at?

I firmly believe that a completely free-to-use platform is more vulnerable to being misused like what you see happening on the Bird App.  We will also need to generate some funds every year to keep the platform running sustainably. It might sound contradictory but while We will be open to using commercial advertising agencies like AdSense to generate revenue but we will NEVER accept money from ANY individual or organisation to selectively place or remove content on the platform. This is not going to be THAT kind of place! 

I am planning to a have 3-tier membership structure with a base level fee of $3/mo (payable annually) and up to $50/mo for the highest membership level.

We will leverage Technology to keep running costs low. For version 1, I intend to build the app frontend mainly on lightweight PHP. For the API,  We already have 2 different versions previously written in Python and C Language either of which could be repurposed for this project. I am leaning towards the latter. Simple & reliable API that does the job. I am initially setting up 3 Linux servers for the first year and we could grow the number of servers and implement CDNs as the user base grows.

 Interface?  Well I am a Product Manager with a background in Coding! Templates/Graphics/Colors aren't really my thing!  I depend on my Graphics team to create the template.

For now, I am tilting towards just getting something lightweight done inspired by the UI elements on the Bird App. If it works, it works! No need to reinvent the wheel! But No fancy graphics and no jazzy UI trickery! Focus will be on functionality and ease of use. Here is a teaser!

Click on image for Full Screen View

One of my Team members created an alternative interface that resembles a Unix terminal/message board from the 70s. I REALLY liked it and it might certainly be appealing to other Tech Nerds! However I am not sure if that kind of interface will work with regular non-techie folks!

Any Graphics/Design experts out there who have a better idea for the interface? Drop me an email kaleshibua@gmail.com.

Organisation - and a Solemn Promise!

We are looking at a 4 month Development cycle for Beta release. So if we begin development on 1st December, we will have the v1 release in May. Founding Members will be able to access the Beta Release for Testing from February onwards. 

After Go-Live, the project will be run as a Non-Profit and structured accordingly. And one thing I promise all of you as I begin this project - I WILL NEVER SELL! This app is meant for the public and will remain with the public - ALWAYS! And when I am gone from this world, the app will live on as a public trust run by you!

Funding

My @buymeacoffee page is accepting contributions. The first 1000 people contributing $25 and above will get free Base Tier access for life as Founding Members. I will also be setting up a separate site where all Founding Members can join in Feature Discussions as we build this product. I will also be making daily status updates on the product progress here as well on my X account @KaleshiBua.

Make sure to leave your email address while making your contribution!