If you are on this page, chances are you are looking for a safer, healthier alternative to conventional social media. You probably remember the initial days of a new social media app, when the rewards of being online were quick access to millions of users seeking that special connection or just hanging out with friends. You soon figured out that came with its own set of problems – scams, illegal activities and even bots, making the simple act of being online akin to making yourself an open target for phishing and social engineering attacks.
Did you know that in 2022 alone, Facebook platform (Meta, Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp) child sex abuse reports to NCMEC amounted to more than 27 million? Facebook has announced they’re working on developing an Instagram App for children under the age of 13! This is simply unacceptable.
Think about what could happen if we have all users verified on social media:
- There would be a significant reduction in the sharing of CSAM (child sex abuse material)
- There would be a significant reduction in bullying,
- There would be a significant reduction in scammers,
- There would be an increase of online accountability; and,
- We can segregate children online, so they can have a safe space (without fear of child predators or random adults contacting them).
We’ve decided to take action instead of waiting for government to protect our children and vulnerable people. We’ve decided to become a leader and step up to the plate for the world to see what’s possible if we have online accountability.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could have an online safe space of your own where you could meet new people or just hang out with friends you know – without looking over your shoulder?
Well it turns out we found enough people who felt the same way to come together and build 65square – a dedicated online medium built to ensure a safer, healthier social media.
Say hello to 65square.
A new experience in social media. It’s a game-like setting, showing you a 3D world without the gaming atmosphere. It’s not a game. It’s real life or as close as possible in a virtual setting. And yes, everyone will be verified.
Reserve your 'plot' of land inside 65square now! From $35/yr
You will build (from templates) a “home” (a 3D graphical representation of your physical home or perhaps what you want your home to look and feel like) instead of having a “home page” (like on other social media). You will experience people real time, using innovative communications features.
Parts of your virtual home will offer you features you already know from your grandma’s social media. Go into your ‘kitchen’ to see and access your cooking groups. Enter your ‘media room’ to see shareable moments you’ve posted or your family’s timeline. The experience and features have a wide variety of customization options.
Sounds good so far, doesn’t it? We also agree there’s something called too much of a good thing, which is why we have time locked access.
The Infamous 2-hour Timer
We know it’s a risky thing to have people PAY for what they use on social media, but let’s face it, social media isn’t free today. You pay for traditional social media, with your most valuable commodity: time. On Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter – all of them – you are the commodity. You and your information are sold to advertisers and therefore there is absolutely no reason to have you leave their platforms. They fight for your attention. They BEG you with notifications to come back into the app and engage with ads and content. In this business model, it’s driven only by you consuming time, energy and resources (which are finite). Social media cannot just expand endlessly. It’s certainly not free to power massive data centres which consume land, water and precious minerals.
This is why we’re placing a 2-hour daily timer on all users’ experience inside 65square. Not only for your wellness, but for the health of the environment. If someone is addicted to social media, this can be significantly impeding on their life. With 2-hours a day, we hope that you can start to think differently about how you consume social media and energy. If two hours a day isn’t enough, you can pay for it, or even bank free time from unused time throughout the week. The timer won’t run while you aren’t on the app, so you’re truly only paying for what you use. It’s fair, equitable and makes sure we can keep costs as low as possible for you. When you’re being kicked off 65square after your daily timer expires, you will be prompted with a recommendation to get off your phone and to enjoy your life in the real world. Imagine if Instagram told you to do that?!
NOTE: Business owners and content creators will not have a daily timer using our custom business app.
Say hello to 'meaningful' dating
In 65square’s Dating Square, you’ll find fun options to connect with people who you know will already be verified. There will be no catfish. There will be no scammers. What are we doing inside Dating Square? It will be the first part of the system to hit the app stores very soon! Find out more now HERE.
Worried about privacy?
So are we. Which is why it will feel great to get away from other social platforms. We’re a nonprofit and there’s going to be zero advertising (that you’d typically see on a social platforms) inside our system. To be clear, businesses inside our system will be able to have 3D billboards that you may see while exploring and they will have the ability to have sponsors for their live stream events but your data (aside from your username) won’t be accessible to them. We’re not going to be harvesting or selling ANY of your data. The information we will extract from your passport (by scanning the chip NOT by taking a picture of your passport) is your legal name, date of birth, gender, nationality and your passport photo. All of these won’t ever be public and will be stored encrypted and checked only to make sure you’re the one who is logging in every time. You’ll be seen in the system by your customized username and we will be openly offering independent researchers and auditors the ability to review our system’s code and the data we’re collecting (with your consent of course). We’re even going one step further and creating a Charter of Rights for you inside our system with crystal clear guidelines about issues like privacy and freedom of speech.
Augmented Reality Ready!
We’re bringing AR (augmented reality) into our full social media system from day 1. Creators and businesses will be able to upload (or create) 3D objects (products, clothing or anything!) into the system and integrate this into their experiences. Watch the video (below) to see one of our talented engineers running a test. We’re not finished developing but you can compare this to final release version soon! Imagine the possibilities!
Business owners of all kinds will have the opportunity to set up and use business features right out of the box. Within an hour you can have a store set up in the app and have web browser access.* Businesses have a variety of 3D buildings to choose from. Set up wherever you like inside the system (it doesn’t have to be your real-world location). Employees and business owners get 24 hour access inside the system (no timer) while inside their business. Have store hours for when your employees will be offering customer support inside your virtual store or let us operate your sales 24 hours a day without you! All for pennies on the dollar compared to other platforms like Amazon. With AR and verified users, we know there’s a beautiful road ahead!
*Web browser access for customers shopping only for non-adult related products. Adult related products or content will only be available in-app.
Image credit: Mohamad Aymen Mir, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Built for Business
Unlike personal users, business owners will select specifically where they want their 3D business to reside on our real world map. Businesses that have access to a “Billboard” will be able to have it located elsewhere in the system. This billboard will become part of the landscape, much like billboards in real life are. Businesses will be able to customize their billboard with custom artwork or marketing and by clicking on the billboard, users can be taken directly to that business.
Protecting your data
If you’re a personal user inside 65square, rest assured we are not selling or giving your data to anyone you don’t know about. There’s no algorithm or AI system that we have that will be monitoring you. There will be NO giving your data to advertisers or slimy unknown third parties. If you enter a 3D store inside 65square, your avatar, the city you call ‘home’ inside the system (which is not your actual real-world city), your username and how much you’ve spent in the store will all be visible to the business owner. This will not be accessible to anyone else. You will not start having your searches inside 65square show up in Google Ads while you’re browsing outside of 65square. Keep in mind, you’re doing business with 65square and no third parties will have access to your personal information unless you’ve purchased something from them and they need it to fulfill the order. That’s it. Business owners and their employees will be able to see your daily time remaining and they will be able to “gift” you time if you’re patronizing them. Just ask.
Yes, every time you attempt to login, we will capture a live image of you. These images will be encrypted and stored safely and used if and only IF there is an issue (For example: if something negative happens to you or your account inside the system or there’s a report someone else attempted to login to your account). These images will not be used for any other purposes and they will certainly not be viewable to the public. These images may be given to law enforcement under the proper circumstances (a court order, emergency or we’re concerned about safety) but in very strict circumstances. No other government agency or third party will have access to them.
Everyone will need a valid passport which has an NFC readable chip in it to create an account. Are we taking a picture of your passport? No. We are going to validate who you are using the chip against the airline industry’s passport registry system. We will only retain your: Name, date of birth, passport number (to make sure no other accounts are created with the passport), nationality, gender and passport photo. All of this data will be extracted from the chip and all of it EXCEPT your age and gender will be encrypted and safely stored.
Your age and gender will be safely stored but won’t be encrypted as we will access it often (every time you login for the facial analysis scan it will be used to assess whether or not you should be logging into the account you’re logging into). Again, this data will not be used for any other purpose other than login and it will be kept private and safe. It will not be given, sold or transferred to anyone else unless you say so (unless we get a valid court order/police emergency request or there’s an issue with your account).
What if I don’t have a passport with an NFC chip in it? Unfortunately, we’re building the system with safety in mind. We’re currently only using NFC-enabled passports to verify, as it’s the only document worldwide that has standardized features which can be independently validated fast. We are working on other methods of ID verification that are efficient, and those may come down the road.
Above: Screen capture from the latest beta version of 65square’s Business App.
Who doesn’t like the idea of going shopping with friends? Linked Friends is a first of its kind, allowing users to come to your store in groups! Check out the test video (below) for more.
Are you a creator? Did you know that using our system over websites like OnlyFans or Patreon could save you $1000’s of dollars per year? Since 65square has been developed by a nonprofit, shareholders and investors aren’t our concern. Within a couple minutes a business owner or content creator can be set up with a building inside the system.
Worried about time limits? Don’t be. Creators and business owners while inside their business spaces (in the personal app) or while using our business app, won’t have a system timer ticking! Actually, business owners and creators can see their patrons’ daily time remaining in the system and even gift time to them!
11 ways to monetize inside 65square
Sales (Businesses or Content Creators)
Space rental (Businesses or Content Creators)
Merch (Businesses or Content Creators)
Donations/Tips (Businesses or Content Creators)
Paid courses (Businesses or Content Creators)
Sponsorships (Businesses or Content Creators)
Affiliate sales (Businesses or Content Creators)
Ticket sales (Businesses or Content Creators)
Paid subscriptions (Content Creators)
Pay-per-creation (Content Creators)
Syndication (Content Creators)
Plus this is just the beginning. We’re already looking at improvements for version 2 of 65square. Stay tuned for updates.
Above: Screen capture from the latest beta version of 65square’s Business App.
Live Stream Venues (LSV) are a place, a time… an event. Only inside 65square. Creators and business owners will only be able to book time for a video live stream event, limited time per week. They’ll be able to sell merch during their event (like a concert) or have a gathering space for people to connect. All inside the venue they’ve booked. With a dedicated number of possible live stream hours per week, business owners and creators can build their brand, knowing that they’re not competing with a million other nobodies trying to be famous for nothing. Each major city* inside 65square will have a LSV to be booked in blocks of time. Creators or business owners can charge a ticket fee to watch or make it free. Easy integration for sponsorships and selling merch means that you’ll have full control on your revenues. If you’re a business owner or creator, it’s time to sign up now while the prices are low.
*A major city inside 65square will be a real municipality with a real-world population of 150,000 or more. This means that there will be approximately 2300 cities in our system which will have a LSV (and Dating Square).
Games? We got those.
We’re working on building games for all ages, both in AR and traditional 2D space. There are some custom, exclusive games you won’t find anywhere else. Most games for our youngest users will be fun and (don’t tell them) educational. Like learning how to cross the street in a 3D space or engineering.
Dating Square
Interested in online dating? Have you ever been catfished? Did you know that in 2021, there was nearly $600million in losses in North America just involving romance scams? Our system will allow you to have a different kind of online dating experience. Imagine being able to meet up with a date virtually at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Plus, who is going to try and scam others when they’re verified?
Other types of business experiences (we’re working on) in our system (non-exhaustive list):
- Conferences/trade shows
- Digital movie theatres
- Digital concerts/exhibitions
- Classes
- Shows/events and more!
- Fundraising and recurring billing systems for creators
Environmental concerns will fuel the innovation on our platform. Yes, some likely some won’t enjoy the daily time limit on our system (2 hours per day with extensions available) but some people will love it! Mental health and the health of our planet is at the core of this decision. We want to encourage you every day to be thankful for the time you have outside of your phone. Imagine, a big tech company actually caring about the mental health of its users!
Kids inside 65square?
Children can be verified on our system and with exemplary moderation, they can have a safe space without fear of random adults contacting them. Kids will learn more about having respect and accountability online. Ultimately, our stringent login system will verify every time someone logs in, that they are who they are supposed to be.
We’ve formed a Wellness Team comprised of mental health experts to focus on the development of features for adults and kids and their experiences in the system. Our Wellness Team’s Mandate:
“The Wellness Team exists to focus on the needs of the user by managing issues such as technology addiction, online safety and well-being. By adhering to healthier design and technology frameworks developed by industry professionals, we hope to improve user experience while still maintaining an enjoyable, community-friendly platform for both children and adults.”
As such, kids will be grouped together with different restrictions inside our system. First, it should be noted that only kids of that age bracket will be seen to other kids in that age range (So adults won’t be visible to kids and vice-versa). Second, a child WON’T be able to set up an account unless a parent is first set up inside the system. Children will be grouped into the following age brackets with some restrictions below:
Ages 6-10: No custom messaging, parents control time limits, heavy focus on edutainment type programming and creations
Ages 11-13: Eased social restrictions, ability to send custom messages including pictures (no video), nude image scanning (done by AI on device) will be standard and parents notified if a nude is uploaded or received
Ages 14-17: No ability for video messages or video calls but audio calls are allowed, nude image scanning still in force, shopping at PG rated content creators or stores now available
Below is a clip of the basic system we’re using to detect nude images. Please donate or better yet, sign up now to help make this a reality faster!!
Our first app! Guess your age/gender!
We have been working hard and now you can test some of the tech we’ve developed! It’s an age/gender guesser. It may not be much to look at but we’re very proud! Our AI team developed this system for 65square but it will be available now as a fun way to understand how the technology will work. It will make an assessment of your age and gender just using your phone or tablet’s camera! This is only the first step but more is coming soon! WARNING: This AI model is not trained for children yet. If you use the app on a child it will likely return an age between 25-40, although that may be funny.
Android version: HERE
Apple version: HERE
Developer credits: Ani, Minh, Aldrin, Alexandra & Syed
Want to help improve the system? Submit pictures or videos of you or your child now HERE
iOS Version now available!
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/65square-age-gender-guesser/id1608095993
Developer credits: Ani, Minh, Syed & Paresh
Android version available!
Our latest app: Train Those Lips!
Get it on Apple’s App Store now: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/train-those-lips-by-65square/id6467084661
Get it on Google Play Store now: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.helpusdefend.train_those_lips