Our Vision:

Reclaiming the Internet to Revitalize Democracy

 

Helio might appear as merely a campus app for class discussions and meme-sharing. But that’s just a first step towards a bigger vision. 

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We’re here to save democracy from surveillance, AI propaganda, social anxiety, and polarization. We want to revolutionize online interaction and set new privacy and safety standards. Once again, students will be pioneers at the forefront of innovation.

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The core of our philosophy in building Helio is a simple question: How can we make online life more like real life?

 

Why do most Americans believe that social media has been a net negative? And why has social media led to a rise in teen suicides, compelling even the U.S. Surgeon General to urge action? Why are people more considerate, open-minded, and nuanced in real life? 

 

Countless studies and books have looked for answers. For one, the often-blamed anonymity is not the problem. Hate speech and misinformation are symptoms, but the origins lay deeper:

 

Reasons include the self-censorship of large parts of the population, billions of bot accounts, the incentivization of low-quality engagement, the hacking of our attention, and the lack of accountability for both individuals and news creators.

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So we focused on six specific innovations:

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1. Bot-resistant zero-data identity

2. Incognito Mode: Pseudonymity with Accountability

3. Domain- & Account-level accountability

4. AI for Better Context and Integrity

5. Negative feedback for more humane conversations

6. Best practices for mental health and privacy

 

We’re targeting students because they’re tech-savvy but urgently need better online communities, as evidenced by recent on-campus events. From there, we'll expand to more communities and introduce features such as AI tools, ranked-choice voting, C2PA Content Credentials, and more to support online democracy, media transparency, and community moderation.

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Why Helio is unique

1. Accountable, Bot-Resistant Zero-Data Identity: One Human, One Voice.

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According to its official “transparency report,” Meta removed over 5 Billion(!!) fake accounts in 2022. That’s more than they have accounts left on the platform. This mind-blowing number shows two things: First, creating fake accounts is an investment worth continuing for some bad actors. Second, Meta can manipulate its user growth by being lenient on bots and prioritizing metrics over community.

 

2018, based on personal experience, I started humanID, a nonprofit, anonymous, and bot-resistant alternative to “Login with Facebook” that does not store personal information. humanID, part of the Foundation of a Human Internet, is 100% independent from Helio (Disclaimer: I currently serve as a board member and will resign as soon as Helio raises a Series A to avoid any incentive problems).

 

With humanID, Helio knows nothing about you—no emails, phone numbers, or locations. We do not ask for access to your contact book. We can't sell or leak what we don’t have, keeping you safe from government pressure and data breaches. 

The core insight is that a community can only function if every human has exactly one safe and private-at-choice voice. Elections work this way—one anonymous voice per person. The internet failed us because it guarantees neither privacy nor protection from fake accounts. When bot networks run freely, those in power buy themselves a fake grassroots movement, fake voices in the public discourse. Let’s STOP that!

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2. Incognito Mode: Pseudonymity with Accountability

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Helio's Incognito Mode lets you pick a username, ensuring anonymity while keeping you accountable. In the real world, actions have consequences—break trust, and you face social fallout. Most anonymous platforms miss this critical check.

 

We need spaces to safely voice bold ideas and vulnerabilities. Chris Bail’s research shows that many people fear backlash when speaking up online—one lousy post can wreck a career or friendship. Anonymity is incredibly liberating for the otherwise marginalized, and the popularity of ‘Finstas’ and burner accounts is evidence of demand.

 

Incognito Mode changes the game. You can post and chat anonymously, but you can still be blocked and downvoted, impacting your Karma score. A low Karma score hurts your visibility across all posts, keeping everyone in line. It’s like real-life social consequences, but online and private, removed from your real-life identity.

 

Here’s the kicker: this model helps users find new friends and create lasting friendships. By maintaining accountability, we reduce abuse and encourage genuine interactions. Higher retention rates follow as users discover more, fostering stronger network effects. Helio ensures you follow community rules without fearing being canceled for one lousy post, all while building a safer, more engaging platform. Secure and protected online interactions will benefit real-life mental health outcomes.

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3. Domain- & Account-level accountability for sources of information

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Accountability isn’t just for users—it’s central to how Helio tackles disinformation. In today’s chaotic media landscape, separating truth from lies is herculean, typically left to a few journalistic outlets. Facebook and X make it deliberately difficult to discern whether a headline comes from a seasoned journalist or a paid fraudster in Moscow.

 

The rise of ChatGPT means anyone can create a slick-looking site full of misleading but polished content. Yet, building a credible domain and reputation is tough. Social networks like Helio shouldn’t be the arbiters of truth either. Instead, we partner with Credder.com, integrating journalist reviews of sources directly into our app and algorithm.

 

For any shared link, Helio provides explicit ratings of the news provider and offers alternative angles from trustworthy sources. Unlike X, where discussions fragment into countless threads, each link on Helio will have a dedicated page with expert input and additional information. 

We understand that people simply don’t have the time to vet every source; we make it a matter of seconds. 

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4. AI for Better Context and Integrity

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While AI threatens our civil discourse by mimicking and scaling human speech, it also presents enormous opportunities. Looking ahead, Helio will harness AI to revolutionize how we consume information. Think about this: AI that slices through clickbait to deliver concise, helpful summaries. Automated fact-checks pulled from trusted sources like Wikipedia give you trustworthy background information at a glance. We empower users with instant context and verified info, amplifying truth, not noise.

 

Our future AI tools aim to build a more innovative, more informed community, cutting down on misinformation and elevating the conversation. Helio isn’t just keeping up with the future of social media; we’re defining it.

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5. A healthy algorithm, driven by the ease of giving negative feedback

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Mark Zuckerberg himself shared the above image to point out that ‘Engagement’ is better for borderline extreme/prohibited content. Still, META primarily uses engagement to optimize their newsfeeds, the rhythm of our online lives. Unlike Facebook and X, Helio’s algorithm prioritizes respectful, non-spammy behavior. It uses over 100 parameters to downrank excessive posting. Most importantly, we make it easy to downvote and block users by placing the 🚫Block button next to the upvote button. Frequent blockers have diminished power to prevent abuse.

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When blocked, a user’s Karma score drops, reducing their visibility. The app automatically encourages authors of frequently blocked content to consider deleting this content. In real life, toxic individuals lose friends. Online, they go viral until their content is censored. Helio aims to downrank hateful content into oblivion, making censorship a last resort. Our goal is that hateful content is discouraged by the platform's incentives and downranked into oblivion automatically—because society is better when hate reaches few.

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6. Adding existing best practices on mental health and privacy

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Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation” reveals the heart-breaking fact that suicides among preteen girls have tripled since 2010. Social media is harming our kids, and we take this seriously. Our focus on mental health is visible in the details.

 

• The combination of incognito mode and the ease and impact of 🚫Blocks makes doxxing, stalking, and harassment much, much less effective.

• For example, incognito mode allows young women to avoid objectification. Content will be evaluated based on content, not the author’s identity.

• We hide anxiety-inducing counters for followers, upvotes, and more.

• We do not show which posts you upvoted, downvoted, or blocked.

• We do not show read-receipts.

• We do not let others see who you’re following or who follows you

• And much, much more 

 

Join Helio to see the difference yourself.

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To summarize:

To fix democracy and mental health online and finally realize the original vision of the internet as a place of community, we will, step by step: 

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1. Build a healthy community of students first.

2. Use network effects to scale to more people outside universities.

3. Expand the capabilities of the platform.

4. Raise the bar for acceptable privacy and content standards across the whole internet.

 

The internet was supposed to be a place of unlimited knowledge, inspiring the democratization of society, spreading tolerance, and empowering every human being. It has become the opposite. 

 

Let’s fight back!

 

Bastian