Telepath is a new social network that aims to have a much higher level of moderation in order to prevent hate speech, bullying, fake news and other negative things that you may encounter on the daily basis on other social networks.
Telepath is invite-only at this moment and we got lucky to grab one. Is it worth getting there early? Here is what to expect from this post 👇
- Telepath concept and why is it worth reviewing
- App UI and features
- The content inside and if it worth getting there early
- What about Android version?
- How to get an invite?
Telepath concept and why is it worth reviewing
The opt-in page asks you to choose a platform between Android and iOS but when you will receive an actual invite from someone, you will find out that only iOS version is available at this moment.
The fact that is is an invite-only network gives you this special feeling of being one of the first users that all real beta testers know about. As soon as you will get there and browse across Telepath for a little bit, you would immediately notice how few people are actually on the platform right now by looking at the number of members in communities for hyper-popular topics (for example, #Android network had 32 members when I joined).
Behind this "exclusive" access - Telepath is a well made social network app with user profiles, posts, communities and comments. What makes it different from others?
- It is meant to be used by users with real names. This means that there are no nicknames or brand names over there - only people. There is no real personal verification process in place at this moment, apart from phone number confirmation.
- It aims to have higher moderation standards when it comes to negative speech. Every new joiner meant to agree with Telepath rules where one of them is simply phrased "to be kind".
- It aims to have higher moderation standards when it comes to false information and fake news.
- All the content disappears after 30 days.
- No ads (for now), but there is also no clarity over the future monetisation model and everything is possible here.
Along with the above points, it is not clear yet if Telepath moderation guidelines will have anything specific to do with spam and self-promotion, authorship and content reposting. So far it is only clear that unlike on Reddit, you can expect to be warned for violating rules for the first time before getting banned.
The rule for content to disappear after 30 days makes Telepath a very "news" friendly platform. In addition to this, Telepath platform can generate a quality user base that is interested in the specific topic with higher engagement.
App UI and features
It is hard to predict what decision will the team take regarding the app design when they will start porting it to Android. So far, the iOS version is very well made and it perfectly fits into the iOS ecosystem starting from the icon and continuing with the rest of the UI.
It has a white-orange palette along with contrasting fonts and colour coded action buttons. The UX of Telepath is super simple and easy to get into. It has a bottom nav bar from which you can access all necessary menus - "feed", "networks", "notifications" and "profile".
For now, we can just hope that the Android version will get all of the best from iOS UX in combination with Material Design on the UI part.
Telepath is also quite fast in terms of performance. If you remember "Vero" for example - performance was one of the issues that made it hard to use.
The content inside and if it worth getting there early
All profiles are "personas" on Telepath and they might also join one of specific "networks" that are focused around different topics (like subreddits on Reddit). People can follow each other, post to their feeds, networks and leave comments.
Invite-only nature, in combination with other rules, will accelerate the demand on content creation. This means that if users attention can shift to Telepath, people who started there early will have higher chances to grow their audiences organically. This could be a nice motivation point for content creators and publishers.
Another potential benefit of getting early to the platform - "networks" or communities can be created by users and there are tons of niche topics that are not covered yet. As #Android network was already there, I've created #AndroidApps and some others!
For people who only consume the content, early access won't bring that many unless you are a geek beta tester who want to report feedback to devs. But if you want to "consume and discuss", you may enjoy being a part of the polite conversation with users who care about their reputation.
What about Android version?
Unfortunately, Telepath team didn't share a clear timeline. According to posts in the "Android" network - Telepath team is actively looking for Android devs. This means that it can take any amount of time and the app is unlikely to be released within the next 1-3 months.
This can be a good opportunity for Android devs who are looking for new challenges. Telepath was founded by former Quora employees and got some investments. The email for job inquiries can be found on Telepath Github page.
How to get an invite?
First of all, make sure that you opted-in on the website to get into the queue. This will get you in, as soon as the team will decide to send out a chunk of public invites. If you can choose between iOS and Android options, I would recommend to opt-in for iOS version as it is more likely to get out first.
Secondly, you can find someone who is sharing invites to their subscribers, follow them on Twitter and turn on post notifications for this profile. These notifications will let you raise your hand before others when a new chunk of invites will be available. It is not yet clear how these invites are going to be distributed in the future, but if we will get any, we will share them on TestingCatalog's Twitter page.
Happy testing!
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Source: Telepath
Invite: @MattNavarra
