Q&A About TAO Social

The TAO Social MVP includes a scrollable video feed, basic user authentication (sign-in), category-based feeds, and core engagement features like liking and reposting videos.

After launch, the focus will be on monetization options and content moderation tools to support a sustainable and user-driven platform. We're also aiming to have the DAO side up and running within six months to give users real governance over the platform. The MVP is launching in April to get the platform into users' hands and refine it based on real feedback.

Closed beta in April 2025. Soon after, will get the platform into users' hands and refine it based on real feedback.

We chose AT Protocol because it provides the best foundation for scalability, decentralization, and interoperability without forcing us to build everything from scratch.

Unlike other decentralized protocols that require extensive custom development, AT Protocol already includes user accounts, encryption, video uploads, and feed customization—allowing us to focus on building a great user experience instead of reinventing the wheel.

It also lets us tap into an existing network of 30M+ users on Bluesky, making it easier to grow while still keeping governance and control in the hands of the community.

• The social media platform that always should have existed

• A mech suit for the People vs the Oligarchs

• Revenue pooled to make massive societal impact

• User-governed (more mid-term)

TAO Social will operate as an LLC-DAO. This allows for flexibility and legal protection, as well as phased governance over time. The goal is to give users a meaningful say in platform decisions while ensuring long-term stability.

To stay independent, we're avoiding venture capital and focusing on grassroots crowdfunding and sustainable revenue models. Governance will evolve as the platform grows, with decentralization expanding as it reaches a stable place.

Because social media (one of the most powerful forces in the modern world) has been hijacked by corporations and investors who put profit over people. Platforms that were supposed to connect us have exploited and surveilled us.

We’re building TAO Social because the internet deserves a truly people-first platform. One that isn’t beholden to shareholders, advertisers, or a boardroom full of execs making decisions for their bottom line.

And here’s the kicker: We’re not taking venture capital, not seeking personal profit, and not holding disproportionate ownership stakes.

Most founders cash out. They use community-driven language while quietly structuring the business to sell equity, raise capital, and maximize their own upside.

We’re rejecting that playbook entirely. In honor of a new paradigm that the collectively desperately needs.

By sacrificing traditional ownership stakes, we ensure:

• No single entity can buy or control the platform

• Decisions are made in service of the community, not shareholders

• Long-term sustainability is prioritized over short-term profit

This isn’t about building a social media app. It’s about creating a social movement. And a space where users actually have a say, creators aren’t exploited, and people aren’t just data points to be sold to the highest bidder.

Yes, it’s risky. Yes, it’s a sacrifice. But if we pull this off, it changes everything.

Because it models how social media can truly be by the people, for the people, with the people.

Getting rid of ads sounds great in theory, but in reality, it often leads to the same cycle of platform monetization that prioritizes profit over people.

We've seen this happen over and over again—a platform launches with a “no ads” promise, only to backtrack when it needs funding. If it’s venture-backed or controlled by big investors, it eventually becomes beholden to profit motives and has to find increasingly exploitative ways to monetize.

This is how platforms fall into the cycle of enshittification: first, they make idealistic promises to attract users, then they shift to serving businesses and advertisers, and eventually, they extract as much value as possible from both while degrading the experience for everyone.

Instead of making empty promises, we’re protecting TAO Social from the start by rejecting venture capital and big investors so the platform remains independent and building an ad model that actually serves users and creators.

Imagine an ad experience that enhances your time on the platform instead of disrupting it:

💡 Both users and creators can opt in or out of ads. Creators can decide whether to include ads on their videos, and users can choose if they want to see ads at all.

💡 Users can control the kinds of ads they see. Want to support small businesses and local creators? Prefer ethical brands over corporate giants? You decide.

💡 If you opt into ads, you get a cut of the revenue, aligning incentives between the platform and its users.

The goal isn’t to bombard you with ads—it’s to make advertising ethical, meaningful, and user-controlled. When done right, ads aren’t just a monetization tool; they’re a way to connect the right people with the right people while keeping the platform sustainable without selling out its users.

TAO is designed to be community-owned and governed, but we’re taking a phased approach to ensure stability before fully decentralizing decision-making. While the long-term vision is to transition to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), governance will only take effect once the platform reaches stability and it is safe to hand off.

In the meantime, we’re actively seeking experts, legal scholars, and decentralized governance pioneers to debate and refine the best framework for TAO’s laws. This is an ongoing conversation, and we want to ensure that when the DAO launches, it’s fair, transparent, and resilient.

As we roll out governance in stages, the community will have increasing influence over platform policies, revenue distribution, and moderation…ultimately making TAO a platform where power belongs to the people. Stay tuned for discussions, proposals, and community votes as we shape this future together.

Content moderation is one of the biggest challenges for any social platform, and most solutions either go too far in one direction or not far enough. Some platforms use aggressive AI moderation that censors harmless content, while others allow unchecked harassment and misinformation in the name of free speech. Both approaches fail because they remove user agency and often serve the platform’s business interests over the community’s.

Instead of imposing a one-size-fits-all moderation system, TAO Social is building a layered, user-driven approach that puts control in the hands of the people actually using the platform.

• Users will be able to choose their own content filters, deciding how much or what kind of moderation they want in their feed. Instead of a platform-wide decision on what is or isn’t allowed, people will have the ability to opt into different levels of filtering based on their preferences.

• For content flagged as misinformation, we’re taking a wiki-style approach rather than outright removal. Instead of an algorithm deciding what is or isn’t true, flagged content can link to community-moderated knowledge pages where different perspectives and fact-checks are compiled, giving users access to more information rather than less.

• We’re exploring ways to layer in conversational game theory to improve discussions. Platforms that optimize for engagement tend to reward the most polarizing content, which leads to outrage cycles and low-quality interactions. Instead of maximizing raw engagement, TAO Social is considering ways to reward constructive, high-quality discussions while still allowing open debate.

Rather than trying to make universal decisions about truth or acceptable speech, TAO Social is giving users more control over their experience while building systems that encourage context, nuance, and actual conversations instead of the performative shouting matches that define most social platforms today.

Not overnight, but eventually.

TikTok’s algorithm is a billion-dollar, highly optimized machine backed by massive amounts of data and compute power. Replicating something on that level takes time, talent, and funding—but it’s possible. TAO Social is starting with personalized feeds and transparent recommendation models, avoiding the black-box engagement traps of mainstream platforms.

Building a comparable system will likely take a couple of years, though advancements in AI could accelerate the timeline. Lucky for us, our technical lead, Adam, has been toddling around server rooms since he was three, and much of algorithm development is already in his wheelhouse.

With the right funding, TAO Social can bring in the other brilliant minds needed to develop a next-generation recommendation engine: One that optimizes for user experience rather than pure engagement manipulation.

Clearlight Studios is Chiara’s agency. The reason she called it "Studios" is because the long-term vision is for it to grow into a venture studio: A company that builds and launches businesses rather than just consulting on them.

Right now, Clearlight helps other businesses scale through consulting and implementation services, but the goal is to eventually shift from working on external projects to developing its own. The entire portfolio would be focused on creating companies that serve as vehicles for massive impact.

TAO Social is, in many ways, an act of public service, but it's also a proof of concept; a way to demonstrate the kind of businesses Clearlight Studios aims to create.

If it succeeds, it could become the flagship portfolio company and help pave the way for the venture studio model Clearlight hopes to build.

Most venture studios operate by securing major investor backing, but that often leads to misaligned incentives. Founders lose control of their vision, and the focus shifts from impact to maximizing investor returns. Chiara has seen firsthand how this plays out and wants to do things differently.

Instead of taking outside capital, Clearlight Studios could fund its projects through a combination of agency work, revenue-sharing models, and in-house education—specifically, courses on ethical business and company creation.

TAO Social itself could also be a mechanism for funding world-changing ideas.

If the platform allows users to collectively decide how resources are allocated, it could give rise to a new kind of influencer. Not one who just chases engagement, but one who uses their influence to champion and fund meaningful projects.

If TAO Social succeeds, it doesn’t just prove that people-first social media is possible. It also sets the stage for a venture studio that builds humane, user-driven technology instead of exploitative, profit-first businesses.

Eventually, it will be.

The startup world is sharky, and until TAO Social has a firm standing and a strong user base, we need to protect our IP. Open-sourcing too soon could leave the platform vulnerable to being copied or co-opted by players with more resources. That said, the long-term vision is transparency and decentralization, and making the platform open-source is part of that roadmap.

TAO Social uses a deferred compensation model to fairly compensate those putting in significant time and effort, without compromising our mission or creating traditional equity stakes.

Anyone who contributes 40+ hours to the project is eligible for deferred compensation, with payments issued once the platform has a healthy revenue stream.

There are tiers based on contribution levels, with the highest tier (for those who contribute 300+ hours in the two months leading up to the MVP launch) capped at $300,000.

Creator recruiters who bring 50+ verified, active creators to the platform are also eligible for deferred compensation.

This model takes the concept of sweat equity but removes the typical trade-off of giving away control. Instead of diluting ownership or becoming beholden to outside investors, TAO Social ensures contributors are fairly compensated while keeping the platform user-driven and mission-aligned.

It’s important to note that these payouts only unlock after the platform achieves a certain revenue, and does not take precedence over operational costs.

The system we’ve created is as fair and ethical as possible.