Prioritizing serendipity over objectives is the philosophy behind Kenneth Stanley’s social media platform, Maven. Stanley believes that open-endedness is key to creativity and innovation, and Maven is designed to increase the probability of serendipitous discoveries for its users. Unlike traditional social media platforms that prioritize user engagement and popularity, Maven’s algorithm shows users posts based on their interests and the likelihood that they would find them appealing, rather than just popularity. Maven also eliminates likes, upvotes, retweets, and follows, focusing instead on connecting users with what’s interesting to them. The platform aims to combat the toxicity and addictive qualities of social media by removing the incentives behind sharing inappropriate or sensationalistic content. Maven has received funding from investors like Twitter co-founder Ev Williams and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who believe in its mission to provide a more positive and serendipitous online experience. While the platform is still in its early stages, early user feedback has been positive, with many appreciating the genuine interactions and freedom from toxicity. However, the challenge for Maven lies in finding sustainable revenue streams without compromising its ideology. While advertising is one option, Stanley is hesitant due to its association with virality and sensationalism. Selling data to companies like OpenAI is another possibility, as Maven’s open-ended algorithm has potential value for training AI models. However, Stanley is cautious about the implications of sharing user data and emphasizes that his primary goal is to create a serendipitous community rather than exploit the data for AI development. Overall, Maven represents a refreshing approach to social media that prioritizes serendipity and genuine connections over popularity and engagement metrics.
