Must it be this way? Where did we go wrong? How do we fix it?

These are the questions we ask as we roll out Media.com, frame by frame, feature by feature. Our fundamental thrust being that ignorance of a given technological force causes trepidation and the sense that the force controls us. We’re here to provide a better way than social media has provided so far — not only to connect with each other, tell stories and keep informed, but also to quench the thirst so many of us have for reliability, accountability and transparency in the content we consume.

We consider this to be a glaring void the internet’s many pioneers overlooked in their great race to connect billions of nodes to each other – real or not, identifiable or anonymous – as they sought eyeballs or at least potential eyeballs, at almost any cost.

Perhaps initial generations of social media failed in this regard. Disorder was the rule. Connection was the pitch. Engagement was the measure. Advertising revenue was the bottom line. Comprehension came later.

We the innocent consumers saw the shiny new thing and hopped in. We drove and drove until the thing broke down, in the middle of nowhere, with ominous clouds approaching. And here we are: anxious. Unable to fix the thing because, yes, it turns out selfies and untraceable incendiary comments don’t fix much. We’ve gone a little cybersick in the process, within a media metaverse that lacks the coherence to calm itself down.

We aim to learn from and repair the era that brought us here. We seek to rediscover optimism about how the internet and social media might enhance, but not dictate, our personal and business lives. Doing so requires full comprehension and discussion of social media’s effects and mechanics.

Simple. Coherent. Authentic. Trustworthy. Mature. Anxiety-free.

These are some of our guideposts. This is where a new way to think about “social media all grown up” begins — with intention.

Certainly a more mindful internet is possible, following in the tradition of a medium built to find improvements from within, as media and tech build atop each other, new version after new version. That’s our position — for the record. We can do this.

The first challenge: verification

Generations raised on smartphones and online networks seem to grasp these pitfalls more candidly than most. Internet ethnographer Katherine Dee describes the current era as shaped by “an internet-native sadism” where depression, nihilism and sleeping with one’s phone is a common experience for many under 40.

Indeed, millions now bear battle scars from a system that was perhaps never built to manage the forces of online exploitation. We often blame smartphones, but a smartphone is just hardware — a portal to the internet, wired by media in all its forms. We’re addicted to the content, not the device. A television is only as powerful as the shows and content it broadcasts; otherwise, it’s just an inert plastic box. A phone is the same.

In developing our vision for a next-generation social media platform, we prioritized verified identity. We examined how open systems can be exploited and concluded that anonymity — and the bots that feed on it — had to go.

We also implemented an age threshold (18) and built trust and safety into the foundation of our platform. Our Trust Center is at the core of this effort, ensuring oversight on issues such as: dangerous organizations, adult sexual abuse, hate speech, misinformation, copyright laws and high-risk users. See our Trust Center for more details.

Verification is our first step toward a trusted online universe. Many online seem to think anonymity is a fundamental reason to be online; we don’t question that this is attractive. Anonymity has its place, especially for those caught in oppressive societies and situations. But that’s not us. We are the first major social media community to validate each and every user. We understand the need for a safe anonymous space for some, but the other guys have that covered.

For individuals, a valid government-issued photo ID (a passport or driver’s license) is required. For a business profile, we verify an authorized officer before pursuing additional documentation under “Know Your Customer” and “Know Your Business” standards.

This means every piece of content on Media.com has a traceable source. We believe candid conversations and provocative content can coexist with this model. We believe internet commerce and social engagement online function better when humans — not bots — are in control. And we insist that a town square isn’t a town square if it’s full of cardboard cutouts with fake names pretending to be human. After all, isn’t that what computer games are for?

This is real social media, built on trust, safety, opportunity and imagination. A space where fragmented apps, paranoia about online interactions, and distrust dissolve into a sustainable joie de internet — a love of the internet. Yes, we believe it’s possible.

A higher-quality engagement

Susannah Page-Katz, our lead on content moderation, previously served as director of trust and safety at Kickstarter, where she drafted its AI guardrail policy. Crucially, this policy didn’t take a black-and-white stance on AI content creation; instead, it acknowledged AI as a media tool while ensuring creators remained transparent about its use.

The idea was to exercise control over a whiz-bang technology, while implementing a flexible approach that respects a creator’s inherent freedom to create as well as protect work from those that would steal or plagiarize. To control bot software, not bow to its supremacy. The internet is full of short cuts, safe to say — to fame, knowledge, art, journalism, wealth, etc. Page-Katz has been working on many forthcoming tools that address fact-checking and identity.

The trend is moving in this direction. A 2023 YouGov survey of 1,000 adults, cited by Bloomberg Law, found that 62% of respondents believe platforms should require real names and identity verification. Europe leads with tough policies Media.com follows, and several American states have enacted laws to “prohibit impersonation for purposes of harassment, intimidation, threat or deception to facilitate contact.”

Freedom of speech being a respected pillar within our approach, within reason. Does an anonymous burner-bot have the right to say whatever it wants? Not really. Not in our space. We’d have to point out that such entities don’t really “speak” at all. They mimic speech; they fake it. And that is not a protected right, last time we checked.

“These laws aren’t an attempt to limit what anyone can say,” wrote Bruce Heiman, a partner at the law firm K&L Gates, for Bloomberg. “They aim to prevent false identification.”

Page-Katz echoed Heiman. “We’re verifying the individuals behind the account, not the information they might share,” she said. “That’s the safety piece.”

Christy Grace Provines, our global head of brand, encourages new visitors to explore the Trust Center to gain a comprehensive understanding of our approach. Having led high-profile campaigns like Tinder’s 2023 global rebrand, Provines emphasizes that every feature we introduce is designed to “do less harm” and “be less toxic.”

“Our Trust Center outlines our reason to exist,” she said. “And verification matters because there are no bots on the platform. That’s our aim.”

We’re building a platform where engagement is higher quality, with fewer trolls, less spam and reduced toxicity. Hate speech, doxing and threats will trigger oversight. The goal is to create a digital space where accountability, trust and meaningful interactions thrive.

Bit by bit, we’re on a mission to redefine social media. We’ve identified the void and have set about filling it. We’ve established a safe online space and we invite you to be a part of it. We hope you’ll join us for our mission.

A line from Albert Einstein might seem a bit “out there” when discussing why James Mawhinney, the Australian founder of Media.com, started a social media company. But then, solving problems from a fresh angle even as the problems in question grow new fangs before our eyes… that’s precisely what he’s doing.

Mawhinney wants to clean up social media while letting it evolve. He’s managing a global team focused on building a first-ever fully verified online community. Dreams of “tech with a conscience” are not only present, they’re verifiable. Simple, right?

It’s what Larry Weber, a veteran tech-media expert, calls “evolutionary, not revolutionary tech” that builds on the notion that authentication has become far more attractive to social media users as humanity and technology converge. Weber cited the iPhone as an innovation in design not computing that nevertheless altered how we live and interact with the internet. Crucially, the iPhone was a synthesis. It was (and is) three things in one.

“He didn’t invent the computer, he didn’t invent the camera and he didn’t invent the telephone, but he invented the iPhone,” said Weber, of Apple founder Steve Jobs. “When you understand technology is evolutionary, not revolutionary, it all builds on itself.”

Echoing Weber, Mawhinney envisions a social-media synthesis that builds on the first decades and drains them of their toxicity. He hopes for more honesty in how we interact online through verified traffic and sourced content. He likes to reference the internet’s promise of soaring connectivity, but he’s not cynical about why its networks have failed in many ways.

“The holes in social media are now becoming quite clear and stark,” he said in an interview from Melbourne. “We aim to fill those holes.”

Mawhinney sees connectivity and content as foundational in social media but believes a third dimension—verification—is largely untapped. And while his eyes are open about social media’s pitfalls, Mawhinney is also sympathetic when talking about why news companies, for instance, might take shortcuts in an online environment where clicks and engagement matter more than substance. And he knows why incumbent social media giants tend to skirt accountability for bad information or the presence of bots, fake profiles and burner accounts. (Spoiler: it’s about the advertising; inflating impressions and audience size for ad dollars.)

If any entity deserves blame for social media gone wrong, it’s the underlying business model, he said. Engagement and large user numbers matter when the primary metric is advertising revenue. Both legacy press on one end of the media spectrum and social media pioneers like Meta or X (previously Twitter) on the other are ruled by this pull. Mawhinney hopes for another way – and he’s willing to experiment to attain the best approach.

“Their business models are driven by ad revenues and impressions and less so by authentic engagements,” he said. “We want to bring the focus back to real users and a real media experience.”

Mawhinney’s vision is for a safe platform that fosters genuine connections and information integrity — to enhance human lives and commerce — as he guides his company with an ethical compass. That’s the value proposition.

A businessman with a heart? Mawhinney downplays such characterizations. It’s more practical than that. He saw a wide-ranging problem and set out to fix it.

Mawhinney decided to start Media.com about four years ago when he realized everyday interactions (both online and off) could be verified using existing technology. Like many of us, he experienced several negative social media-driven events that led him to examine the value of “solving the distrust in communicating with people you don’t know.”

Mawhinney faced his own reputational turmoil in Australia; he’s been embroiled in a personal legal controversy that’s consumed his time, money and will. He’s worked hard to clear his name from a misunderstanding inflamed by social media and hopes to be clear of his difficulties by the end of the year, to turn his attention full-time to helping others avoid his plight.

“This is something that’s touched me very personally,” he said, of targeted misinformation and how quickly it can spread online. “I’ve seen how rapidly harm can be caused at a very substantial scale. I take what we’re doing very seriously.”

He described his experience as “torment” when some bad actors hiding behind fake profiles attacked him online. “I thought, ‘I bet these people would not do this if their name was public,’” he said. “That was the catalyst for my pivot to start Media.com.

“This is far from an Einstein theory. It’s just common sense,” he added. “We have all been swept up in the excitement of connectivity and content… and have missed what I think is the most crucial aspect of any mature network: verification of its members, so the interactions are real.”

Real people, real posts, real connections. No bots. Access means a community member is not the hush-hush product, as users and their data tend to be on almost any other social-media or search-engine site. Verified traffic is the path social networks and search engines are “moving towards,” Mawhinney said, because they feel the pressure of discontent. The established apps are nervous to completely do so because it could reduce traffic and hurt ad sales, so they tend to perpetuate half measures and double-speak. What results is a negative frame for social media that is apparent in politics, with nations increasingly looking to regulate harmful content, as well as in daily online life, where news about mental-health hazards tends to dominate coverage of social media’s impact.

Importantly, no major social media platform requires all users the ability to verify one’s identity. Instead, they verify for individuals and entities who are either high-profile users and companies (Snapchat) or paid subscribers (Meta Verified for Facebook and Instagram, and new Twitter Blue for X).

Mawhinney points to Reddit as an application where daily anonymous engagement is enormously important, and that works for Reddit, but he sees room on the other end – where verified profiles bring accountability and therefore deliver more certainty and quality. A cloud cover of trust might not work for Reddit, Instagram or TikTok, but it is the backbone of Media.com. The company’s Trust Centre is the mission statement.

Mawhinney didn’t start Media.com from a dorm room or outer space. He’s not a venture capitalist looking to reorder society with artificial intelligence or involvement in high-level geopolitics. What’s most striking about Mawhinney is how grounded he is. He’s focused, literal and clear.

“The internet is not broken, but how we interact with it can easily be improved,” he said. “An internet where we can get to know each other is very possible. What we’re doing is effectively introducing verification of each node. These technologies exist. We’re insulating the problems we all know about with a layer of trust over the top of the internet.

“Social networks don’t know who their users are; they know who their advertisers are,” he added, likening Media.com’s approach to that of the banking industry, which has to know its customers’ identities to stop money laundering and other illicit activities. Think of it as an attempt to stop or at least curtail information laundering, along with identity, data and anxiety laundering.

Doing so doesn’t have to compromise freedom of speech, in Mawhinney’s view. That’s why Media.com’s verification tools will soon be followed by a fact-checking system that resembles the structure Meta recently abandoned. Mawhinney thinks content safeguards can coexist with free speech, as verification tends to “urge users to think harder before posting to ensure the content’s origin is trustworthy.”

“The best solution is you just have to be more careful about what you write,” he said, “but that’s not good enough. There has to be a technology solution which introduces accountability and transparency to what gets published online.”

While user verification enhances trust, it doesn’t guarantee accuracy or eliminate harm. That’s why content moderation is crucial. In 2025, Media.com will roll out a “three-check” flagging system that includes: proactive detection of harmful, offensive or inaccurate content; third-party fact-checking of certain stories; and user/community flags as a last line of defense.

“I don’t anticipate being able to provide the perfect environment,” Mawhinney admits, as “policing every piece of content is just not a sustainable business model.” Still, if Media.com is able to enhance a large portion of content published online with the stamp of authenticity, while establishing itself as a one-stop media warehouse for business and individuals, it will have found its niche and advanced the cause of conscious, caring tech.

Mawhinney adds that he respects early-stage entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg because he effectively invented social media and made Meta into “one of the world’s most valuable companies, with an enormous number of shareholders.” But he does not agree with the decision to abandon fact-checking.

“My admiration comes from the perspective that he’s managed to straddle this horse,” he said, referring to how he’s handled scrutiny of his own reputation while remaining focused on his company’s long-term prospects. “He is a pioneer in this space.”

Mawhinney adds that he has no plans to divest in the future and hopes for “a safe place where a person can speak their truth uninterrupted.” He has faith in the process he started and wants Media.com to get its foundation right this year before going live with full functionality.

Weber, for one, is excited about the approach. He sees Media.com’s mission as “the veracity of information, which I think is the job of all of us, but it’s going to take innovators like a Media.com to really pull this off and be a leader in the category, because the big guys aren’t doing it right now.

“I’m going to be a cheerleader for companies like Media.com and hope they can win this for all of us because we’re only going to be a better society if we’re told the truth and we use the truth in our decision-making,” Weber said.

Outside of work? Mawhinney says his passion is business. “It doesn’t feel like work to me, especially when there’s purpose behind it.” But he soon hopes to spend more time afloat with his partner and five-year-old daughter, as he did growing up around boats most of his younger life in Perth, Western Australia.

“Growing up around boats helps provide a different perspective on life,” he said. “It teaches responsibility, safety, being at one with the elements and provides a sense of freedom. This can be a helpful counterbalance to a very busy lifestyle.”

A very busy lifestyle Mawhinney hopes will translate as Media.com looks to roll out globally within the next year. He’s hoping that “pressure creates diamonds.”

“The words ‘verified community’ prick up a lot of ears in a positive sense,” he said. “I’m feeling confident we’re in a good spot.”