Whoop The Feed!
A Manifesto-In-Progress
STFU
I recommend reading STFU before you read this post as parts of it are at varying stages of development and all of them are undercooked.
Plus, there are other considerations.
This post is adapted from a LinkedIn post I wrote in September 2024 to inform my network about what I am up to.
It is too Manifesto-ish for the casual browser — the 'GigaChad' version of the answer to "What is 'whoop!'?" and "Why?".
That is to say it lacks specificity about what 'whoop!' is right now (as on October 03, 2024) and why should anyone care. The About page has that crisper, possibly wittier, and defnitely meme-ier, introduction — especially useful if you landed here from some external rabbit hole.
Because this post felt Manifesto-ish, I decided to make it a Manifesto, albeit a manifesto-in-progress (and hence STFU).
I want this post to be here, simmering. Here's why:
(a)'whoop!' must have a purpose, a mission, a vision, a set of virtues, and values.
For all my dislike for corporate fluffery, I do believe having these things is important. We need a north star.
And we need the clouds hiding it to part.
Therefore, writing these things is important. Writing is clarity.
And writing in public exposes the ideas to the elements. I hope, for 'whoop!' most of it will be nourishing.
(b) none of these things can be built, devised, thought of, and articulated in a day (and I mean day in the sense of 'Rome wasn't built in a day').
These things will evolve, and they should evolve and therefore a living, breathing, evolving document is needed.
This post is that living document. Please enrich it with your comments (or skip it altogether). It gives me immense happiness to share ‘whoop!’ with you!
‘whoop!’ is on a quest to build viable alternatives to the feed, the primary construct we use today to engage with content on social media and the internet in general.
The Premise
Social (as in Social Media & Networking) needs an antidote so that:
we, the readers, the listeners, the viewers, and the explorers, have a curious and relevant alternative to the feed that doesn't kill brain cells;
creators have an "I-am-the-niche" alternative to shouting endlessly into the algorithmic fish market;
startups and brands have a graceful, story-driven alternative to robotic ad placements in the feed
Together, we can build this antidote.
STFU
I have recorded more of my thoughts on the first point above in the stories I have been writing for 'whoop!'. They were written to create intrgue for whoop!'s launch BUT could as well serve a future Alternate Reality Game (ARG).
For example, see Weka's story and excerpts from Alisha's private journal.The Thesis
My thesis is that weaving ‘play’ with elements of community building, content curation, and curiosity can help us do that.
But I want to let you know that that's what it is: a thesis. Experiments are needed.
One of Whoop's first experiments will be to build a community around a digital arcade of quests—hunts, puzzles, and games—designed to help folks discover, explore, and engage deeply with thought-provoking ideas and content from around the world.
As you can see, even that is too vast an arena of possibilities. Focus is needed.
//we are starting with a contest format for riddles
The Model
Whoop is free for those who just want to play. A paid upgrade is available for those interested in real rewards for their quests. That will help keep the initiative afloat.
Now, we have a starting point.
Together, we will build an engaging, rewarding, and algorithm-free alternative to the social and personal ‘feeds’ that often push clickbait, divisive content, mind-numbing bull crap, and echo chambers masquerading as illusions of choice and personal preferences.
Think about that for a moment.
And now ask me, what (the hell) can a game, a puzzle, a hunt, or a quest (or two, or more) do about it?
My hypothesis: a lot. //cue in credible research on the mental and social impact of play in general and games & puzzles in particular
The enshittification of the web has a lot to do with what ‘Poor Charlie’ said about incentives :
If you have a dumb incentive system, you get dumb outcomes.
You get privacy-invading ads,
//how do we build a model that isn’t steeped in hypocrisy?
If the incentives are right, //what are the incentives?
Whoop’s mission is to devise a fundamentally different approach to how people //
STFU
EVERYTHING FROM THIS POINT ON IS A BRAIN DUMP. READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL (OR SKIP IT ALTOGETHER).
STFU: Rant alert for a few paragraphs below. The resources associated with the first hunt are in the helpfully titled section Argo. As we embark on this quest to build Whoop, our first stop is
Puzzlers, questers,
We will sail aboard the Argo if you join me on this voyage. Think of me as your sherpa as you climb and meet the summit.
While you are here,
STFU: Stream of consciousness scrapbook begins
More assorted fertilizer that may or may not be useful for later:
I will do my best to make it so that this post is the only place on 'whoop!' where I will subject you to something resembling a Manifesto. The opinionated origins of 'whoop!' and where it might end up
An online arcade of puzzles, hunts, quests, and ARGs, providing a content discovery alternative to social feeds. Play for free or upgrade to paid to win real-world rewards.
This shiite/shtick here:
Whoop is for audiences — the readers, the listeners, the viewers, but never the followers.
Whoop is for creators — the writers, the artists, the builders, who know better than to niche down into the bottomless pit. You are the niche; more power to you.
I have much more to say about this and my motivation behind Whoop. You will find the seeds of my thoughts in this here Manifesto and this here Roadmap. Both are incomplete [insert digital garden stuff in here] and, as of September 22, 2024, completely misshapen.