1. Infoflow is not a social media platform we are designed to conenct you to information providers, with the option to engage with other users about provided information.
2. The design of our algorithms are built to avoid the echo chamber, with safeguards in the way we cater to you. Not only do posts generate links to contrary articles, but we also aim to showing you alternating perspectives on topics you are interested in, to ensure you do not only see information that coroberates your existing viewpoint.
3. We strive for private not public engagement. We do not promote content that provokes a public reaction, but privately registered interest. This goal ensures that information that becomes popular on our site is not reactionary but thought provoking.
It is our belief that social media has taken over the information space. We aim to push back the boundaries so that social media can once again be used as a place solely for your social life and entertainment. InfoFlow was founded with the vision that a new social-media style platform, but dedicated to solely information and education, was neccesary to create properly divided spaces on the internet. We feel this is a neccesity due to the increasing overlap between entertainment and information that is causing disengagement and lack of information whilst having all of it available. This is why a new information platform, with algorithms not designed for boosting infleuntial content, but designed for mass education and information is neccesary. We have also designing a platform without a profit oriontation, and we aim to never create a platform that deals in grabbing your attention. This platform only aims to keep you engaged for only as long as you want to be here to learn, not to capatalise on you as an ad viewer, but as a user who wants to learn.
The echo chamber effect is a social phenomenon that has come into existence by the utilisation of tracking user preferences. It can best be described as learning user movements and using this data to determine what information a user would most like to see. However, in practice, this easily results into creating bubbles on the internet where you see information that not only are you interested in, but that you agree with, with the occasional information you complete disagree with sprinkled in. It is our belief that not only does this give an inaccurate representation of the full spectrum of knowledge, but also discourages critical analysis of all information streams. Instead, our site makes a conscious effort to search all information providers for information on similar topics and link them all together, so when you see information providers you agree with, you are not just linked to others who agree with them, but who disagree. We also encourage source notation, getting providers to cite where they have gathered their information from. By linking sources we can also quickly link how different soruces are interpreted. The aim of our site is to encourage critical and free thinking, and to encourage people to learn around a topic they are interested in, instead of reading information by providers they enjoy listening from, and missing the other perspective.
The internet has quickly become a marketplace controlled by advertisers, creating spaces that encourage maximum engagement to increase revenue. Despite our utilisation of advertisments, by creating a company
targetted on principles not profit, we have been able to create a site that does not encourage maximum engagement, but meaningful engagement. We plan to create a site that utilises peoples passion to learn to be
all the engagement required to keep you engaged. In this manner, our site does not track how long you spend interacting with any form of content to show you similar content. Instead you control your engagement.
By providing obvious and clear feedback buttons on every article, you decide to let us know if this is the kind of content you engage with, and can easily define if it is the topic, provider, or style you would like
to see more of. This means our site takes longer to learn preferences, and may even bore you at times! But learning is a long task, and one at the internet is a great tool for, if the correct spaces for engagement are created.
This also means that content is not promoted on our site based on vocal engagement. Although our site has the option to respond to information providers, to either link content yourself or review why you agree or disagree,
this in no way factors into the contents promotion. Instead, content is promoted based on how many people select the 'informative' button. Although highlighted across our site, it is worth saying again, you do not have to agree
with an article to find it informative, it may just educate you on a different perspective you completely disagree with. But this feature allows us to spread information that people find useful. If the different options available for
each article sound daunting, do not worry, there are tutorials once you sign up, or you can jump right in, with our easy design making it obvious to come pick up. So come join our community of learners.