Summary: The recent transformation of social networks has led to creators being diluted under a constantly renewed mass of content. Creators then have no real choice but to produce at scale to remain visible. However, producing in a single dominant format creates competition between creators, loss of authenticity and erosion of the creator-fan relationship. Through its concept and vision, Happew aims to offer creators a healthier, more direct and freer space, while providing fair monetization that remains respectful of fans.
The vision behind Happew
Goals, vision and positioning: how does Happew position itself?
Summary
The transformation of social networks
In recent years, the main social platforms have widely adopted short videos as their preferred format. At the same time, mobile video editing tools have become mainstream, and content creation on social networks has become normalized.
The rise of a single cross-platform format, the widespread availability of production tools and the normalization of usage habits have had one major consequence: an explosion in the number of creators and in the amount of content published on social networks.
At the same time, platforms have unanimously adopted the same presentation format: an infinite feed composed of short vertical videos shown one after another, sorted by recommendation algorithms.
This presentation contrasts with what we used to know: today, attention is no longer focused on a creator’s personality, world or ideas, but on content viewed out of context.
Instagram users know this phenomenon well: it has become almost impossible to see a post from a friend you follow in the news feed, because it is so polluted by ads, sponsored content and algorithmic recommendations.
For acquaintances we follow, we might be tempted to think that missing updates about them is not so serious. But the same cannot be said for creators who care about maintaining a bond with their communities.
Indeed, this is a well-known phenomenon among content creators who have been practicing this craft for more than two years: views are dropping sharply, and the notoriety and trust that took so long to build seem to gradually disappear.
Most people in the industry blame recommendation algorithms. However, the truth lies elsewhere: the algorithms have not changed, they still seek to capture users’ attention. What has changed is the amount of available content.
Thus, creators are not made invisible because the algorithm forgets them, but because they are diluted within the mass of new creators and new content produced every day.
The consequences for creators and fans
To fight this invisibility, creators only have two options:
- Produce drastically more content
- Lean into controversy and follow trends exclusively.
The first is a pharmakon, meaning both a remedy that treats the problem and a poison that makes the situation worse. Producing more content may increase visibility for a while, but it also increases the overall mass of content and the production pace imposed on other creators in order to remain visible.
The second option attracts attention. But that attention fades when other creators align with the same level of controversy. The bar then has to be raised again, and the spiral begins.
This system, which is clearly not virtuous, raises serious issues. How can the quality and authenticity of the bond with a community be maintained when mass production is the only way not to disappear?
Worse still, how can we hope to share information that matters to us, and that perhaps requires a little calm to be understood, when adjacent content screams for the ambition of stealing the attention of the person watching us?
The disappearance and occasional absences of some creators we have followed for a long time are therefore understandable. Because while for us, as consumers, fans of a few but interested in everything, the consequences of this system may still be invisible, the situation is entirely different for creators.
Let us be clear: most creators experience this situation poorly. Creators are trapped: if they produce content at their own pace and on topics they are passionate about, they keep the heart of their community but lose its attention. And if they produce at scale, they keep attention but lose the heart and trust of their fans.
In today’s social media world, values are reversed: TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook value impressions, views and comments on simple content far more than attention, consideration and discussion around rich content.
In short, what was originally entertainment has become distraction, a way for fans to fill boredom.
The future of social networks
A natural question is: how did we get here? And the answer comes down to two words: business model.
Indeed, the reason platforms have changed in this way lies in their economic mechanics. Most social platforms monetize people’s attention. The more time you spend on a platform, the better it knows you. And the better it knows you, the more likely it is that you will give more than three seconds of attention to the 20 to 30 ads it shows you per hour of browsing.
Because yes, that is how social networks make money: by selling brands three seconds of attention on advertising posts.
We can therefore understand why this transformation happened: social platforms focus attention on content rather than creators so they no longer depend on them. As a result, users acquired by these platforms remain on their networks regardless of the decisions, stability or reliability of influential creators.
The plan is clear: through this transformation, today’s platforms are creating a world in which creators produce astronomical volumes of content designed solely to capture users’ attention. And if a creator decides not to play the game, the algorithm quietly makes them invisible, without fans even realizing it.
And we can assume that this trend is not about to change. With the rise of AI and the promise that within a few years, if not a few months, we will be able to produce publishable short vertical videos for every platform in just a few seconds, it is clear that the phenomena described here will intensify significantly.
Happew’s vision
Here, we believe that trust, authenticity and the bond a creator maintains with their community are infinitely more valuable than hundreds of thousands of views.
Here, we believe that the mental health, morale, creativity and personality of creators of all kinds and all sizes must be preserved, nurtured and valued.
Because to us, content creators are what make the Internet what it is, we believe creators deserve better than being placed in competition with actors whose only ambition is to steal attention.
Here, we believe that all creators can coexist, make a living from their activity and be valued for who they are, regardless of their preferred format or size.
Finally, we believe that three seconds of a user’s attention have no real value, and that only real, chosen and voluntarily granted attention deserves to be valued.
That is why we created Happew.
Happew is a social network where creators publish content to be unlocked by their fans. This content is only accessible on the Happew app and takes the form of narrative threads composed of text, images and videos.
Each piece of content can be simple or richer: a single image, a single text, a single video, or several media items organized into the same thread. This format allows creators to share more contextualized, freer content that is closer to their universe, without being limited by a single format.
Happew is entirely free for users. The app allows fans to follow their favorite creators, access their posts and unlock their content without a subscription, without registration and without direct payment.
Happew also includes fair monetization for creators. When content is unlocked, the creator can be compensated based on the activity generated by that unlock, in a model designed to remain free and non-intrusive for fans.
We stand behind this fair monetization because it is based on a simple idea: a creator who publishes content appreciated by their community should be able to be supported without imposing subscriptions or direct payments on fans.
- Fans remain in control of their experience
- Advertising does not interrupt content consumption
- Unlocking remains free for users
- And the activity generated on Happew can directly benefit content creators.
Beyond this fair monetization, which aims to better value the real attention given to content (see How monetization works on Happew ), this system has the advantage of putting quality back at the center: if content is unlocked, it means a fan has chosen to give it importance.
In addition, fans are anonymous on Happew. To follow creators, access their posts and unlock content, fans do not need to create an account or log in. Only the app is required.
Not requiring authentication is the best way to guarantee fans that we do not collect any personal data about them. Their data remains stored on their phone. It also makes redirecting fans from traditional platforms to Happew much easier.
Thus, Happew is anonymous for fans, fairly monetized for creators and free for everyone.
But it does not stop there.
On Happew, there is no search algorithm: if a fan finds a creator on Happew, it means they know their exact username or clicked a link leading to their profile or one of their posts. There is no random recommendation algorithm: when a fan follows a creator, they find that creator’s posts in a chosen space, without being redirected toward profiles they did not ask for.
Creators can, however, recommend other creators on the platform to their community themselves. We believe they know their community better than we do, and that it is therefore natural for this decision to belong to them. Recommendations made by creators can appear in the app’s feed.
We therefore intend to build a platform that is both healthy and fair for creators, and respectful of fans. A values-driven network where every interaction has one thing in common: the quality of the relationship between a fan and the creator they follow. Ultimately, we aim to put value back where it belongs: in the bond between a creator and their community.
Download Happew on iOS or Android to better understand the concept through the demo content available in the feed after installation, and read What is Happew to discover all the platform’s features.