The New Internet?

Many users of the internet are ready for a decentralized internet system that will not be under the control of governments or enormous corporations. One group has made a stab at it in a project called The New Internet.

As I understand this, it allows members of the group to comment on any social media or news web page they visit, and shows their comments to other members.

At the home page, you can see comments people have made. Unsurprisingly, they tend to be comments like “FAKE NEWS” and “So sick of the biased media with their propaganda.” Some comments are about the New Internet project itself: “Thanks for making this New Internet for us.The WORLD has to stand up to this take over from the Socialism. This GLOBAL take over is nuts, we have to stand up to these fools. We are FREE people.”

The New Internet appeals to people who believe that they are being censored by normal internet options for their unpopular ideas. The website says, “All users are able to freely speak their mind and opinions as long as it is legal.” However, we also saw some shameless promotion:

• “Best Dr. in Fresno!”
• “Great entertainment for the family”
• “Easy place to buy a car”

So is the New Internet a good option for marketing?

You could in theory use The New Internet as you might use any other platform for social media. You listen, identify issues you could help with, and join conversations with useful input. You share useful information, engage others, and connect people with your goods and services.

That doesn’t seem like something that is happening right now, but you could be getting in on the ground floor.

At some point in the future, presumably, The New Internet will sell ads or in some other way monetize their offerings (right now they’re inviting investors to fill out a form). As an early denizen of the group, you’ll know how it works and have great relationships already. If it someday becomes a successful competitor for the current internet, you’ll be sitting pretty.

Is the New Internet a good option for you? 

Is your perfect customer someone who believes that they are being censored by the internet? We’re not making any judgements here. We just want you to think about who the New Internet is likely to reach.

Sometimes it makes sense to get in on the ground floor or to reach people in a different group from the ones you already know about. We think the users of the WordPress search engine could be a group of that kind. You might not already be reaching them, it’s not yet a competitive space — what the heck, why not give it a try?

The New Internet doesn’t look like that. It’s not a broad platform that might reach a different group from Facebook of Google Ads. It’s a very specialized group. It’s also quite a small group, and it could take a long time to reach the point where your perfect customer overlaps much with theirs.

On the other hand, directed ads with media outlets popular with that group could be useful. Check out the New Internet’s website and you can see the comments being made. It is very quickly clear which online outlets appeal to this group and which they dislike. 

It could be a good tool for identifying properties on which you might want to place ads.

The future of the New Internet

As fans of the current internet and people who don’t think political censorship in social media is a real thing, we don’t see a necessity for a new Internet, with or without capital letters. We don’t currently see The New Internet as a good bet for marketing of goods or services. They don’t say they are, either.

However, we will watch their future career with interest.

We think that the internet has an enormous amount of power, and it is possible that the power is concentrated more than it should be. We also think that technology is moving fast and new things can surprise us. 

Do you have an opinion on this? Share it in the comments!