Group chats in Towns can be set up so that only people who meet certain criteria (who have specific expertise, for example) can post messages, while everyone else watches from the sidelines. In this scenario, Rubin hopes that large group conversations will no longer be contaminated with misinformed opinions and fraudulent posts. Meanwhile, he believes the ability for someone to prove they are a real person using blockchain-based credentials could help minimize the opportunity for malicious actors to manipulate public discourse with bots.
The entire effort is a bet that people will want their data (not just identifying information, but also details about their activities, spending habits, etc.) recorded on a blockchain in the coming years. If willing, Rubin theorizes, that data could be used to group people based on shared experiences and attributes. Cities could have a group for people who attended Taylor Swift’s latest tour, or those who have a degree in cybersecurity, or anyone who frequently eats out in New York.
Rubin spoke with WIRED about his plan to put that vision into practice and navigate the thorny issues (around restraint, police misuse and echo chamber effects) that have dogged the incumbents he now hopes Towns can topple.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Joel Khalili: Can you start by explaining how you came up with the idea for Towns?
Ben Rubin: I started my career as an architect. Having studied the architecture of real buildings, one of the things that remains a guiding force in everything I do is how to bring people together in unique ways. I still consider myself an architect today. It’s just that the medium I work in is digital.
So it wasn’t just about building a Houseparty following or taking on Discord and WhatsApp.
As we become more connected, there is an opportunity to create spaces for people that truly affect how conversations unfold, what intimacy looks like, etc. There are some things that cannot be done with bricks and that can be done with the digital world, and obviously vice versa.
Of course.
One of the interesting things about Houseparty is that it was a double acceptance graph, like the Facebook graph, where I ask you for a friend and then you have to accept it. It’s not just that I follow you, as is the case with Instagram. But the moment that happens, whenever you’re chatting with your friends (like at a house party where you might be talking to someone I don’t know), I can go and say, “Hey.”
