“It’s really radical,” Stanley told me about Maven, “we got rid of likes and followers. “That’s like crazy.” Some early adopters seem to agree. “I quit all social media about three years ago because of the hostility, misinformation, brain corruption, and advertising,” says Benjamin Scott, a philosophy student. “I think a lot of this was an unintended consequence of popularity metrics that tended to drive false, inflammatory and shocking content.” He says that Maven has “pleasantly surprised” him.
Martin Laskowski, a programmer, says he’s been impressed by how well Maven helps users “find conversations in that valuable space between ‘I know and love this topic’ and ‘this seems pretty adjacent to my interests, but new, and I probably want to do it.’ Check it out.'”
Secretan, Maven’s CTO, says that while discussions about contentious topics can become tense, they are often fruitful. “It’s not just about saying a great line or dunking the other person, because that just doesn’t get you much in this place.” Without a way to gain personal followers or an algorithm to boost attention-grabbing posts, there isn’t much incentive. Personally, I’ve found conversations to be civil and meaningful on a variety of topics (Maven lists interests as varied and specific as “guinea pigs” and “gravitational time dilation”), although one factor is surely the type of person you’re talking to. has united the group. until now, many of them within a couple of degrees of separation from the three founders. (That would also explain why men noticeably outnumber women.)
Regarding moderation, users can report posts or other users, and can mute threads, interests, or users. AI also flags potentially problematic content. “We want to make sure that diverse and open expression remains the predominant theme,” Stanley says, “so we try not to be too strict.”
The Maven network is still small. Stanley declines to reveal any metrics, but says he’s already seen some serendipitous interactions on his own feed, though it sounds more rarefied than typical online chat. One researcher posted a link to a paper he had just published titled “Open-Endedness in Synthetic Biology” that was inspired by Stanley and then posted again say that he had a hobby of inventing new flavors by mixing amino acids and other ingredients. Another user commented saying that they were also inventing new flavors as a hobby. Stanley suggested they team up.
Maven’s co-founders work with some contractors but no other full-time employees. They say they haven’t decided on a business model yet, but it could include ads based on people’s stated interests. They will need more financing in a few months.
Williams, the co-founder of Twitter, became involved in the project by chance, thanks to his appreciation of Stanley’s ideas. “Why you can’t plan for greatness It is my favorite book and I have recommended it to hundreds of people,” says Williams. One of those recommendations led to a meeting with Stanley. The development of Maven was itself an exercise in open exploration, as they exchanged ideas, the founders say. Williams says that while he could have offered advice on how to build social networks, “my guidance most of the time has been just to help them find their way.” Other investors include Rana el Kaliouby, CEO and co-founder of Affectiva, Alex Pall of electronic music duo Chainsmokers and venture capital firm Lux Capital.
Williams says he doesn’t use X much anymore, the platform once known as Twitter, as discussions tend to focus on news, which isn’t permanent. Moros says one of his favorite emerging Maven features is a phenomenon known as eternal threads, where discussions can last for months and continue to appear in people’s feeds. One of her favorite people collects. short and impactful life lessons (Moros’ contribution was “Follow your curiosity”).
Reddit also hosts long-running discussions focused on specific interests, but its subreddits are somewhat isolated, Stanley says. Reddit has separate forums about New York and urban planning, but if someone posts on Maven about urban planning in New York, the tags added by AI will bring together people who follow both interests. “You can think of it as a self-organizing forum,” she says.