Galapag.us
Ben Turner
Galapag.us is a tribe for quantified selfers who want to build a social credit rating ecosystem that calculates reputation using moments, interactions, rites of passage, and any other personal data they find meaningful.
https://galapag.us/
The ultimate goal of Galapag.us is to become the standard for a global reputation system which will give everyone on Earth an identity usable as alibi, social proof, currency, and credit.
Any type of data a person values, such as the best moments of one's life, great deeds witnessed of others, the thanks of friends and family, etc. can be quantified into formulas which represent equations that can be evaluated against any other Galapag.user. Galapag.us thusly allows its members to express what they find most valuable in life, to define their own social networks, and to compare their values over time and with other members, in order to find happiness, success, and freedom.
Background
6 years of ideation, 1.5 years of prototyping. Presented as my topic for Georgetown MSFS orals as well as for ITP thesis.
Audience
Quantified selfers who are already tracking their health and exercise data but who want to track and store the rest of the more metaphysical data they generate throughout their lives.
User Scenario
Someone registers, finds a lot of detail about himself already added by friends, which he then approves and finds that he can then use the results as a reputation for use in obtaining good credit to support the family.
Implementation
Prototyped first in PHP/MySQL, then in node.js/express.js/mongodb/redis on EC2.
Conclusion
I learned that starting a new site is relying on dozens of factors coming together at just the right time in order for it to eventually succeed after a long pitched battle.
Any type of data a person values, such as the best moments of one's life, great deeds witnessed of others, the thanks of friends and family, etc. can be quantified into formulas which represent equations that can be evaluated against any other Galapag.user. Galapag.us thusly allows its members to express what they find most valuable in life, to define their own social networks, and to compare their values over time and with other members, in order to find happiness, success, and freedom.
Background
6 years of ideation, 1.5 years of prototyping. Presented as my topic for Georgetown MSFS orals as well as for ITP thesis.
Audience
Quantified selfers who are already tracking their health and exercise data but who want to track and store the rest of the more metaphysical data they generate throughout their lives.
User Scenario
Someone registers, finds a lot of detail about himself already added by friends, which he then approves and finds that he can then use the results as a reputation for use in obtaining good credit to support the family.
Implementation
Prototyped first in PHP/MySQL, then in node.js/express.js/mongodb/redis on EC2.
Conclusion
I learned that starting a new site is relying on dozens of factors coming together at just the right time in order for it to eventually succeed after a long pitched battle.