Can social media become more socially responsible, ethical and environmentally friendly? Greenworlder, a new social media platform which centres around sustainability, real news and trust, thinks so.
Despite the shady data usage practices, political influencing and negative impacts they have on users’ mental health, social media platforms continue to be used more than ever before.
Their addictive content, funny memes and endless stream of videos play a role in this. However, part of it may also be related to the fact that there are no better alternatives.
Greenworlder, a “responsible social media platform” aims to position itself as one which not only creates less toxic communities but also monetises users’ data in a more environmentally and socially responsible way.
“We think the way today’s social media platforms use data should be changed. We would like to turn this on its head by respecting users’ data and being careful about data protection. Our entire platform is all about rebuilding this trust with the users,” says CEO Urban Gillström.
Having worked in the telecom, IT consulting and media tech industries for nearly three decades, Urban is familiar with what he calls “the dark side of data collection” and the lack of trust that exists on these platforms.
While trust between the users and the creators of the platform is essential, Urban also wants to create trust between the individual users themselves.
“Greenworlder will also have other groups of users such as companies, nonprofit organisations, government, news and media players. So we want to create trust between all those parties, a safe haven of sorts which is not based on them spying on each other,” explains Urban.
“Our view of sustainability is wider than climate impacts, it’s also about humanity, integrity and respect for people.”
Urban Gillström, CEO of Greenworlder
Sustainability First
Sustainability will play an essential part on Greenworlder and users, NGOs and corporates will have a wide range of possibilities of engaging in climate-positive ways. However, it’s not just about the climate action for Greenworlder.
“Our view of sustainability is wider than climate impacts, it’s also about humanity, integrity and respect for people. So to ensure this we will validate all the partners we work with,” says Urban.
While social media platforms have often been used by corporates to polish their brand, Urban assures that Greenworlder “will not allow any greenwashing.” By validating the partners and corporates and working together with LIST and using United Nations frameworks, Greenworlder expects to keep corporate virtue signalling to a minimum.
A Matter Of Facts
With one third of Greenworlder dedicated to news and blogs – the rest devoted to user-generated content and a marketplace for corporates and NGOs – the platform is keen to host news players that can be trusted.
Wanting to remain “unbiased and unpolitical” in the selection of its news players, Greenworlder aims to host a wide range of media outlets across the spectrum – as long as they do not engage in fake news.
Growing Pains
Having soft-launched at the end of 2021, Greenworlder is currently still very much in its testing phase. With slightly over 200 users in Beta, Greenworlder wants to get to 1,000 users by the end of Q2 when it launches and to 50,000 by the end of the year. Greenworlder has the ambition to grow to millions of users during next year.
While ambitious, Greenworlder has no illusions about the challenges ahead.
“We have to be relevant and to make sure that our users feel happy, enjoy a great user experience which comes from the creation of a strong community,” says Urban. Not to forget, “we have to provide the same level of fun as other social media and find more innovative ways for our end users to enjoy our platform.”
This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Read the full digital version of the magazine on our website, here. You can also choose to receive a hard copy at the office or at home. Subscribe now.