****** UPDATE 5/25/19 ******
I promised to let you know if we decided to do a cannon ball jump to MeWe in the future. Well, we did it!
See my latest article for complete update.
Earlier this year we began evaluating social media alternatives to Facebook and Twitter. Facebook had been squelching our reach for nearly a year with no relief in site. And more recently, Twitter wiped out 80% (40,000) of our followers with no notice, no explanation. Conservatives are still getting hammered! Thankfully, the free market is at work with various entrepreneurs vying to attract conservative voices.
In the end, it came down to 2 sites for us… MeWe.com and OneWay.com. Both have an easy to use, robust platform with plenty of activity where you can easily find like-minded people to connect with.
After my previous post “Why we’re not running to MeWe…”, MeWe’s CEO, Mark Weinstein reached out to us to address some of our concerns about the platform. It’s always good to get information straight from the source, so Joe invited him on The Real Side Radio Show to talk about MeWe.
As previously mentioned, we’ve been on MeWe since 2014 and it is a well-done platform with lots of the features that we’ve come to expect on social media.
My 2 biggest concerns were as follows:
- Jonathan Wolfe, listed as co-founder of MeWe in his bio, is uber-Liberal.
- MeWe’s Terms of Service specifically prohibiting “hateful” content.
In the interview, Mark addressed both of these concerns which I’ll summarize as follows:
Jonathan Wolfe has not been a part of MeWe for at least 4 years and is no longer involved in the company. Mark went on to explain that MeWe does not have a political test for people seeking employment and that politics are strictly prohibited in their course of business. MeWe only considers the best person for the job. Wolfe had a specific skillset that was needed and politics were not a factor in that. (You can hear him in his own words ~32 min mark)
The prohibition of “hateful” content still exists in MeWe’s Terms of Service and is intended to target egregious comments. (You can hear him in his own words ~35 min mark)
Jonathan Wolfe has since removed his internet claim as MeWe’s Co-Founder from his website.
It was good to hear that politics are not in play in MeWe’s boardroom decision-making processes and, for now, we’ll have to trust that it will remain that way.
I also spoke extensively with Mark regarding the “hate speech” concern that we, and many other conservative online outlets have and why we have them. Mark was gracious to hear me out and have an open dialogue about it. I’m hopeful that the discussion around this part of their policy will continue into their board room and ultimately be clarified and reflected in their Terms of Service so that conservative media, like ours, can feel confident that time invested building a following on their platform isn’t obliterated in the future by someone who classifies their viewpoint as “hateful” simply because they don’t want others to hear it.
After several discussions with Mark over the past few months, we’ve begun dipping our toes in the MeWe pool. If we decide to do a cannon ball jump in the future, we’ll let you know!
For now, we are working to build on both OneWay and MeWe. Be sure to follow us on whichever you decide is right for you, and let us know what you think about each one.
A BIG THANK YOU to Mark Weinstein for reaching out to us and for coming on the show to talk with Joe about MeWe and the company’s philosophy. And for spending an inordinate amount of time answering questions and baring his MeWe soul to me over the phone on a holiday that would have certainly been better enjoying some family time.
You can listen to the episode here and decide for yourself.