A parody

Terminus is becoming the app it already was

Nobody has acquired Terminus. We checked. Our goal is to build a social app. Towards that end, the protocol stays open to everyone, and everyone can keep posting in the app.

If you want to stay and keep posting with us, please do nothing. You won’t get an NFT stating that you voted for anything. We call this the social dumb contract. It’s like a new terms of service, which you freely ignore, and which we think is very reasonable.

Briefly, the social dumb contract institutes a normal-person standard for public interactions in this app. Things that are illegal are still illegal; there are already laws for that. Everything else is between you and the mute button. We won’t ask anyone to prove they’re human. It seems rude.

Conversely, if you don’t want to build a techno-optimist community, or don’t like the idea of Singapore, or don’t know yet what you want to do, also do nothing. Your account will keep working. Nothing is deleted. You keep your keys, and you can log into another client, or build your own. That’s what we did.

1. The Social Dumb Contract and the Network Suggestion

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first written legal codes, and its purpose was to make the world predictable. If you put out a man’s eye, you could predict what would happen to yours. Similarly, our social dumb contract implements a “Network Suggestion” that governs this client. It’s a set of written digital rules. It’s one rule, actually: you’re an adult.

And what exactly is the Network Suggestion? It specifies digital felonies, misdemeanors and infractions:

Digital feloniesActual crimes.Handled by the actual police.
Digital misdemeanorsStarting fights, posting too much.Handled by the mute button.
Digital infractionsBeing wrong on the internet.Handled by the replies.

Rap sheets on file0

No AI model reads your posts, and nobody goes back through what you said in 2024.

The Network Suggestion also rewards good behavior. If you teach someone something, they might follow you.

Of course, we can’t anticipate everything in advance, so we’ve decided not to try.

2. From the Soviet Union and Somalia to Settings

Over the last few decades, social media has had two settings: (a) the Soviet Union, where you’re censored unless you sign, or (b) Somalia, which is apparently every other app. We don’t think either comparison works in the long run.

Instead, we have a third setting. It’s called Settings.

Every one of them is off until you turn it on, and they only change what you see. Want a Singapore? Build one in Settings. Want the Network Code? Go opt in to it. That’s allowed too.

We call this decentralized democracy: you vote with your thumb, by scrolling past things. Your vote can’t be burned, because it was never an NFT.

In short: (a) one set of rules won’t fit everyone, and (b) Singapore is lovely, but you can’t buy ordinary chewing gum there. We’d like to keep the gum.

3. An Uninformed Vote

Now you understand what we’re doing. Not much. We have no plans to print ourselves out into the physical world. No meetups, no pop-ups, no startup cities, no network states. We looked into it, and somewhere around the city part it becomes a cult.

We think this will radically fail to change the app, because it was fine.

So: if you want to embark on this experiment in leaving people alone, click any button below. They all do the same thing.

Vote to stay

Vote to leave

Not now

Whatever you choose

A parody, by Terminus. Not affiliated with Farcaster or Network School. This page runs no JavaScript, connects no wallet and saves nothing. The buttons can’t do anything, which is the point.

You’re staying.

Nothing was signed, minted or recorded. There’s nothing to burn. Go post.

Contract
Social Dumb v0
Signed with
nothing
Token ID
none
Chain
none
Gas
$0.00
Standing
good (unchecked)
NOTHING HAPPENED