Intersections

« The most powerful people in the world today are not the politicians but the guys who write and improve the algorithm of global social platforms. » - Naval Ravikant

It's no longer a secret – the Internet, much like the world, stands at a crossroads. Today, we have the choice between letting the 'Tech Gods' from Silicon Valley to Asia, as well as government-utilized technologies, define our future and impose their vision of philanthropy... Or collectively take back control of our lives, the Internet, its content, our data, and propose a Democratic Design for living and growing together.

Unlimited power turned against us.

Indeed, by controlling the dissemination of information and, consequently, our ways of thinking, creating, and producing, global social platforms and their architects are literally reprogramming people's brains and shaping our cultures and the world.

The phenomena we have observed in recent years, such as the increasingly toxic climate on social networks, the rise of extremes, and the control of content drifting towards censorship, are just the tip of an iceberg that plunges its roots deeply into the economic model of global social platforms: that of algorithm-driven engagement and the monetization of data as a revenue model. This is what is referred to as the attention economy.

In 2015, GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) and governments held 5 digital data points per person in the United States. In less than 10 years, every person on Earth will be 'stored' through more than 70,000 points of personal data.

Beyond the obvious dangers of this evolution, this over-identification has generated 'filter bubbles' and other vicious and insidious data distortions that, contrary to the original dream of social media to bring people from around the world together, now isolate them in their individual universes.

The Rage Machine business model

This model, which gives the illusion of a free service, is based on the exploitation of our data, the new digital gold that we all surrendered to Big Techs as soon as we accepted the Terms of Service to use these services. Most of the time without reading them...

Today, after scandals like Cambridge Analytica and thanks to documentaries such as The Social Dilemma, the general public is increasingly aware of these excesses, and the buzzword 'Web3' is everywhere, sold with all sorts of solutions, or purported ones, supposed to transfer power from shareholders and companies to users. However, even if the decentralization of 'Web3' is a necessary and significant step forward, it currently offers no real solution as it does not address the root of the problem – the trade of our attention.

To keep us connected, algorithms are designed to generate maximum engagement that promotes instinctive, animalistic, and rapid reactions rather than thoughtful and/or calm actions. Designers build systems that extensively exploit this automatic thinking, what some call the 'rage machine'.

The result is that, literally speaking, there is no longer a 100% safe space to share ideas of all kinds, moods, opinions, creations, joys, and questions of all sorts.

Not to mention that Facebook and Twitter have lost the understanding and control of their algorithms...

The harsh realization is that global social media also contributes to polarizing the 'real world,' slowly killing what is most human in us: genuine relationships with others. And the material world is increasingly becoming a copy of the digital world. And this is probably just the beginning...

Mass surveillance

« The day will come, if it has not already, when politicians will realize that social media platforms choose the next president, the next congressmen—they literally choose and have the power to choose, so they will be controlled by the government. » - Naval Ravikant

Meanwhile, the era of COVID has brought new challenges and has, in a way, contributed to governments realizing the technological possibility of controlling their population. We can say today without exaggeration or presumption that a context containing seeds of oppression is gaining ground.

This translates into the fact that people are now essentially divided into two camps: those who easily accept what they are told to do or think without digging deeper, and those who question, trying to better understand the situation, and situations in general.

However, today we are reaching a dangerous point where those who simply question the official narrative are labeled as conspiracy theorists. And yet, isn't it healthier and truer to believe that the essence of reality lies in the infinite and shifting spectrum of contexts and opinions found between these two extremes?

This intermediate gray zone of investigation, where the playground of intelligence resides, as well as the path of human beings through a dynamic and ever-evolving reality, is threatened by a model of 'preformed thinking,' greatly favored by engagement-based models (on social networks but also obviously in traditional media, television, and newspapers, pushing catchy headlines and unanalyzed or 'quickly analyzed' information).

Technology has the power to shape the world, one way or another...

More than ever, technology is at the heart of these issues: either it can imprison us, or on the contrary, set us free. Throughout history, governments have used technology to influence crowds, whether for good or for ill—from campaigns against cancer to mass propaganda under the Nazis or Soviets, or in a highly controversial manner today in China with social credit.

In fact, today we are faced with some of the collective choices with the most significant consequences in human history:

Do we want to let technology in the hands of a few powerful individuals shape the world for us and decide how we should act or think, or are we brave enough to use this technology to free our minds and shape the world we desire?

Do we accept that global platforms use our data under the guise of 'free access' and sell us as products, or are we capable of taking control of our financial destiny?

Do we want central bank digital currencies to track us, or do we want to remain free and spend our money as we wish and in a peer-to-peer manner?

Do we want to 'engage' when we consciously choose to, or because algorithms force us into it?

Do we want to remain capable of thinking freely, or do we want to obey without even questioning?

Today, we must choose our side, and not choosing is letting them make the choice for us.

A Digital Nation

Republike is a global community-driven effort to collectively regain control of our destiny. It proposes a 180° reversal of the GAFA model, from ownership to financial reward, by returning to users what should have never left their hands – control over data and display.

By placing control of the algorithms and platform governance in the hands of users, our ambition is to create a collective opportunity to regain control of our digital lives and open up the possibility of thinking outside the matrix. Let's harness this power together and take back control.

The next era of social media.

Republike must be free from the opacity of algorithms, ensuring that user data is secure, free from any influence other than that of its own Citizens, self-funded without the need to rely on other third-party companies or investors.

To this end, we use today's technologies as a foundation. Unlike the majority of current social media projects, we do not use the hype around Web3, blockchain, NFTs as the goal to build a project: technologies serve our shared vision, matured over months by analyzing social media and its impact on society. And not the other way around.

Beyond Web3, redefining engagement.

Web3 projects claiming to be the solution to overthrow Big Techs are now popping up like mushrooms every day and everywhere. But beyond the buzzword and hype, is it something that will fundamentally bring healthy and sustainable solutions to the problems posed by 'technological imperialism'?

Will it not bring about problems of a different kind, such as mass selfishness and hyper-competition for income and self-promotion, ultimately not so different from what exists on Instagram?

Unlike existing platforms, we must at all costs avoid making users' screen time the central criterion, at the expense of a balanced life and genuine, useful, and rewarding interactions in the material world for them.

We must also not focus primarily on individual money or rewards and ownership but on the 'Commons.' If people contribute and stay on the platform, we want the reason to be that they had an excellent experience and feel that they have become better, more useful individuals with real goals by using it. Certainly not because they have become dependent on it.

On Republike, we want to give the best of ourselves for something greater than ourselves, which implies that, through an order that transcends individuals, we can receive the best from the Community, while gradually discovering the deep, subtle, and mysterious satisfaction of giving the best without expectations.

From this perspective, we claim to go well beyond the usual Web3 perspective, which mainly revolves around making the user an independent and egocentric source of self-profit.

Indeed, while we do not deny this aspect, we firmly believe that the Common Good must be placed above individual interests, which are essential.

To truly make users free, engagement must:
+ Be ours, not dictated by algorithms
+ Be chosen, not endured
+ Promote quality, not quantity
+ Elevate us, not make us dependent

We at Republike are envisioning a new definition of the engagement concept that could help shape the future of what the web will be and provide insight into what the next stage of evolution should be.

Call to an engaged community

Finally and most importantly, we cannot do this alone. Because, practically speaking, it is impossible, as much as it is not the decentralized, democratic, meritocratic, and altruistic vision we have for Republike and the World.

Republike does not intend to be a product or service competing with other platforms to dominate in a winner-takes-all game. Competition makes no sense in our vision as it continues to pit some against others. We believe that collaboration rather than competition is the next stage of evolution, and thus, Republike has been designed as a community, a model, a vision, involving open-source and interoperability as foundational concepts.

Therefore, we call upon a community aware of these major challenges and committed to building with us something powerful, revolutionary, and beneficial for our future, not only in the virtual world but also by sowing the seeds here, in Republike.

This global vision, from conception to the smallest details of use, translated into a radically innovative design of self-management and collaboration processes, eliminates polarization and censorship while ensuring a level of freedom of expression that no platform has ever approached... And above all, it should renew your digital journey and make you better and more conscious human beings.

Do not let selfishness, whether it be that of Big Tech or your own, turn you into cattle! Let's take back control of the algorithm, the Internet, and our minds.

The revolution begins here and now...

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