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VOTE ON THE APP'S NAME!
Naming poll, meet a developer, and get info on the next set of Roundtables.
Chiara Burns
February 28, 2025
In partnership with
Newsletter #005
Contents:
Hey Peeps,
The day is fast approaching where I might have to call y’all something else because we are about to vote on a name.
Shakespeare said, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
But let’s be real. If roses were called “stinkblossoms,” they’d probably have a branding problem. Names matter. They shape perception, energy, and the way something exists in the world.
We are trusting y’all with this because this app is by the people, for the people, with the people. And that means the name should come from the people, too.
So, I am both thrilled and terrified to ask you to vote on naming the app.
Why terrified? As someone said on a recent TikTok video:
“Remember when we were asked to name a boat and the prevailing name was ‘Boaty McBoatface?’”
Thank you for the THOUSAND+ of you that submitted name ideas. You are so appreciated. And an extra shoutout to Rahma, Kirsti K, and Song Yi for your help in collecting the names!
The latter two have been helping out the internal team, and Rahma jumped in this week from the Crowd to assist with data analysis and name scraping:
Coming from a background in hospitality, quality assurance in customer experience, and experimental research, Rahma never expected to fall in love with data—but the more she worked with it, the more she realized its magic, and once she did, there was no turning back. She became fascinated by the way data speaks, the stories it holds, and the insights waiting to be uncovered. Now diving deep into data analytics, she finds great joy in working with spreadsheets, SQL, and visualization tools to clean and talk to the data, listen to what it has to say, and bring its story to life. She thrives on meaningful projects that create a real impact and is always eager to learn, experiment, and collaborate on data-driven adventures.
Altogether, we scraped 700 names from across Reddit and TikTok, then narrowed it down to 115 to make the vote manageable. Names that were too long or required significant explanation were cut, because the best names are clear at a glance.
» » » We give you...THE LIST! « « «
And I know we’ve all hated to hear this since kindergarten, but for the love of naming, please read the directions.
This first broad vote will give us a good sense of the collective’s favorite options, and from there we will conduct “knockout research,” a process in which we investigate the trademark availability and potential workarounds.
Every time you simply click the ad below, we get a bit of a kickback from the advertiser, which helps us cover build costs. Want to help out the PeopleTok team? Put that index finger to work:
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Meet Thomas
You already knew the PeopleTok team is innovative but…this innovative? Apparently, this is what developers do in their nonexistent free time:
“My dad and I once rewired a lawnmower to run off a light switch bc our ignition switch went out. Imma have to find the photo” - Thomas
Yes, that is a lightswitch affixed to a lawnmower.
Thomas is not one of our senior devs, but he’s incredibly tenacious, and has made some cool strides on the app so far. Our team is a great community for the seasoned devs and young’uns alike. We’ve got a mix.
Ally called it early on:
The ones who have grown the beard can teach the beardless ones.
It’s only natural for a community based project to have a good culture from the ground up! As a “beardless” I can tell you how exciting it is to get to learn from the “bearded.”
But like any good “mentorship,” it actually goes both ways. Tom’s teaching the older devs, too:
(Which, by the way, Thomas’ fiancé is the lovely Kirsti K mentioned above.)
Let’s hear from the lawnmower MacGyver himself, straight out of Southern Louisiana, and the master of proposing in the cutest way possible: Thomas 🙂
“When I first joined this project, I was excited to learn and to be a part of something bigger than myself. I had no clue what to expect, or if I would even be up to par with others already involved. Since joining, I have been welcomed by the community with open arms. We have a saying, ‘The bearded teach the beardless,’ and that has held true since day one. I have worked closely with Adam, Aaron and many others on this project, and have found nothing but support and compassion from the whole community. This support has allowed me to dive in head first into the video creation functionality, and I have learned an unthinkable amount from the senior devs on this project. I can finally say I am a part of something bigger than myself that lets me follow my passion: Learning and working with technology while creating a means to better the world around us.”
Thomas Fuentes is an IT professional and developer with 3.5 years of experience in software development, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies. With a strong foundation in Java, Python, JavaScript, and TypeScript, he has worked across various frameworks and platforms, including Spring, Angular, React, Vue, and Flutter. His expertise extends to cloud computing (AWS, IBM Cloud), DevOps (Docker, Jenkins), and cybersecurity tools (Metasploit, Burp Suite, nmap).
Thomas earned a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems & Decision Sciences from Louisiana State University in 2021. He thrives on continuous learning and is passionate about using technology to make a meaningful impact on the world around him.
Before his career, Thomas knew he was passionate about two things: 1) He loved learning how things worked, from vehicles to construction and everything in between, and 2) He wanted to do something that would make a difference in the world. This presented itself in different ways, and he considered many career paths such as mechanical engineering and military service before ultimately falling in love with technology.
Expect to see more of our dev team in the coming weeks. We’re hosting our first mini-hackathon for the team the weekend of the 7th.
Thomas is developing our in-app video editing tools. A screenshot of the progress.
Upcoming Roundtables
You saw our last Roundtable, right?
You do not want to miss that one. It set the tone of amazingness for everything that’s to come.
Our next series of Roundtables are going to be on:
DAOs & Governance
Moderation, Trust & Safety
I’ve been networking like a madwoman, but we’re always looking for more of the right people to pull into the ecosystem when the time is right. Know any relevant experts? Reply to this email with details.
Let’s Make Friends
Speaking of networking…who else is out there that we should know about? When y’all talk WE LISTEN, which is why I hopped on a call with Mayhem Marketplace this past week and have reached out to Astreth.
As for Skylight Social…trust me, I’ve tried, but they’ve politely ignored us 😜
I wrote that sentence last night and three hours later, Tori followed back. Let’s hope she understands the importance of The Resistance vs. Empire.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we all joined forces?
After all…that’s the real revolution: Moving out of the old world paradigm of greed, division, and competition that’s led us to this breaking point in the world. And birthing something new.
Since we are looking to create not just a social media app, but a social movement, numbers matter.
Collaboration creates a snowball effect, and the more aligned platforms and communities we connect with, the stronger we become.
So, who else is out there that you think we should be talking to? Who else is pushing for a freer, more people-powered internet?
Reply to this email with details. Let’s build together.
Free Speech & Moderation
This is going to be a long, ongoing conversation. We welcome your input on the subreddit:
@humanexperienced Replying to @Paul This is one of the biggest challenges any platform will have to tackle. 2 mins doesn’t do it justice, but here’s a sampl... See more
e pluribus unum,
Chiara