The founder of a fast-growing social media app has pledged to help users end the “abusive relationship” that existing platforms keep their users in, announcing a new technology deal to support its growth.

WeAre8, an emerging social media platform committed to giving people control of their data, has been backed by a US billionaire as part of efforts to disrupt the social media market.

Project Liberty, from American billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, has announced a new collaboration with the site and will use its blockchain technology with the aim of decentralizing social media so that users of the platform have full control of their data.

WeAre8 does not rely on algorithms to serve user content; instead – across three feeds – it shows users videos organized around a set theme on one feed, content from accounts a user follows on a second, and text posts and replies in a third.

This is part of efforts to eliminate “toxic content,” it says.

The app also lets users choose if and when to watch ads, and they get paid directly into an in-app wallet for doing so, with 60% of the site’s ad revenue going directly to users and shared with charities charitable and other projects. .

“What Project Liberty has built on their blockchain technology is complete data protection for the individual, so when it is stored on their blockchain infrastructure, independent of us (the platform), you own it,” Ms. Kalar in PA.

“And that was really important to us as part of our whole ‘ultimate freedom’ philosophy: you own yourself outside of us, you can still go wherever you want.

“We don’t want to control you like we all have – humanity has been in an abusive relationship for 15 years.

“They (social media sites) have controlled us economically, they have controlled our creativity, they have controlled who we talk to, they suppress our voices, and then they have controlled our data and our identity.

Mr McCourt, who has expressed interest in buying TikTok in the US if a proposed government ban comes into effect next year, said: “WeAre8 is living proof of what a world free of addictive algorithms of Big Tech.

“By putting the power back in the hands of users, they can control their own experiences, choose what they engage with, and benefit financially from the content they consume.

“Project Liberty is honored to partner with WeAre8, furthering the potential of an Internet rooted in user empowerment.”

Ms Kalar added that the growing toxicity of social media meant the initiative came at a critical time.

A number of other emerging social media platforms have reported sharp increases in users in recent weeks following the radical realignment of X, formerly Twitter, by Elon Musk, who used the platform to support the president-elect American Donald Trump, but also to spread disinformation and interact with a number of conspiracy theories online.

In addition to users, a number of high-profile organizations have announced their withdrawal from the platform.

“I think we are at the most critical point in humanity,” Ms. Kalar said of the current state of social media.

“The loudest voices shout and they win.

“Children are literally and tragically dying and no one feels heard, valued or loved.

“They have cleverly made us dependent on our own ego.

This contrasts with how WeAre8 was designed, she said.

Ms Kalar added: “We don’t want people scrolling the site for four hours a day.

“We want you to scroll for 10 minutes.

“Get inspired, connect, go discover things.

“Go ahead and live your life.

“Watch a few commercials, put some money in your wallet, use it to pay a bill, engage in a good conversation, learn something and go for a walk in the forest.

“That’s life.

“We have forgotten that we are alive.”