Agora MMXXV

I created a new format for online discussion. The flow is the original poster (OP) makes the post, another user comments (but only gets one comment), and then the OP replies to the comment (he/she only gets one). Before the OP posts the reply to the comment, he/she gets to choose to simply post and be done (paper airplane icon) or to post and continue the conversation in a messenger (the comment bubble).

After six plus solid months of programming, I am proud to announce that my social media site Agora MMXXV is up and running. No algorithmic feed, likes, follows, post metrics, etc. It was challenging to strip everything away that is destructive and built for the Zuckerbergs of this world, but it was also enjoyable. Agora is how I want social media to be and I am thankful that I was able to integrate nuance that goes well beyond a basic internet connection between two people.

Agora is far more than just addition with subtraction. After all, absence does not equal innovation. What is innovative is subtraction plus friction. We avoid friction like the plague and yet it has so much potential to add quality to our lives. We choose frictionless methods of online engagement that claim to promote community and connection and we are slowly learning that the promises are empty. Friction leads to growth and by it being eliminated from social media for monetary gain the world has been stunted.

Modern social media cannot compete with friction. It must rely on frictionless models or risk losing a customer to another site that provides a friction coefficient of 0. While programming Agora, I decided to integrate friction — not to frustrate its users, but to ask of them something great. This comes at a cost and most are not willing to pay it, but time has told again and again that those who are willing to take the risk reap great reward.

Life is short. Today may be our last and that should inspire us to take risks. I am thankful for the opportunity to take the risks that I have with Agora. Agora is how I would like social media to be and I do not want to look back and wish it was different. Agora is only what it's users make of it. I am thankful to have laid the foundation with just enough friction to promote growth. It is time that we become comfortable with friction — not for the sake of Agora, but for the sake of the world that we live in. Agora is the antithetical social media platform and tomorrow is looking very promising.

www.agorammxxv.com/ethics

Imagine yourself out on a pond and your boat springs a leak. What is your first response? Perhaps see what you have in the boat that you could use to patch the leak. Or maybe see if someone is nearby that has space in their boat for you. Maybe you are close enough to the shore to paddle to safety. What if you did nothing? It sounds silly, but simply going down with the ship is a viable option. We often think about business ventures as boats on a pond (well, perhaps ships on the ocean) and we toil endlessly to keep the boat from sinking. I’m here to let you know that I will not.

I have been working on Agora for several months. I have put in a good amount of time and effort into making sure that it is what I want to world to experience. But the honest truth is that I do not have a complete understanding of what the world wants. Sure, in my day job I see so much anxiety, depression, loss, and frustration, but that only sheds light on what the world needs not what it wants and often times the wants outweigh the needs. We need nutritious foods, but we want junk food. We need to exercise, but we want to be sedentary. We need to avoid debt, but we want the thrill of the purchase. I am not immune to wants over needs. But I am thankful for the opportunity to go down with the ship.

I love the idea of Agora, but my identify is not wrapped up in its success. I am so much more and am thankful for the opportunity to build a social media platform that will, hopefully, be a refuge for those who are tired of traversing the wilderness of the internet. But its success is dependent on users and how they use it. I recognize how little control I have and it is freeing. It is freeing to not be dependent on its success. It is built on the shoulder of giants and a product of the times. It is a stab in the dark. “It’s a dangerous business…going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

I am a millennial. I loved the 90’s. Perhaps I romanticize about it too much, but I can’t help but relive the carefree world of my childhood. Don’t get me wrong, there were dangers all around. Violence, abuse, neglect, etc were mainstays even in the 90’s, but there was so much more. There was climbing trees, exploring streams, being scared by suspicious looking neighbors, staying out until the street lights turned on, and on and on. Times change, naturally. The world in the 90’s was not the same at the turn of the century or post-WWII and it is even more so not the same today. Our world is now digital and I don’t think we truly know what to make of it.

The truth is that we have sold our dignity for scraps without even knowing it. With every swipe of our smartphone we provide advertisers and corporations with data that social media corporations sell for their own benefit. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, Meta earned a record breaking $200.1 billion [1] off of your scrolling. You provided intimate details — what you love, what you fear, what you buy, who you vote for — and it was sold to the highest bidder. You reaped nothing.

Social media, as we know it, has been rooted in profiteering. When it was in its infancy, we were oblivious as to what it would become and yet we were made empty promises that we would be able to connect with family and friends even though there was never an intent to regulate the medium that would accommodate that desire. Little did we know that we were the product. The question is, do we want to remain so?

Is Agora the savior of social media? No. I have spent endless hours trying to figure out a way out of this madness and I won’t pretend that I had the solution figured out all along. Is Agora perfect? No, but it’s purpose is to create a better world online for those who desire it. It isn’t for people who don’t want anarchy, mistrust the government, or feel corporate America is the root of all evil. It is for those who just want peace, understanding, and honesty.

What do you want?

[1] Meta Statistics 2026, sociallyin.com