Experienced executive team launches platform for news and discourse
Innovative access system built to keep out bots and trolls
Premium contribution platform gives voice to people across spectrum of ideas
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Thursday marks the launch of Hedgehog, a news-forward platform more than two years in development built to counter the challenges of modern discourse with an innovative AI-supported system to promote conversation and civil debate.
Hedgehog’s motto is “Real Conversations, Real Community.” The platform’s unique design encourages people to read the news without source bias, to engage in civil debate with the ‘reasonable middle’ in society and to be their authentic selves.
“We want Americans to have a place where meaningful discourse is possible.” said John Matze, founder and CEO of Hedgehog. “Hedgehog puts the community in charge. We will foster productive conversations that result from respectful individuals intentionally engaging in thoughtful discussions around today’s news events.”
Matze, co-founder Jared Thomson and their executive team previously founded, built, managed and scaled one of the world’s most popular and fastest-growing apps, the social network Parler. With Hedgehog, their goal is to move past online negativity and promote good-faith discourse that’s open and welcoming to everyone.
Hedgehog will offer three levels of access – Viewers, Members, and Contributors.
- Anyone can sign up to be a Viewer, which will allow them to read news headlines and community posts.
- Members, who have to be invited to the platform, will gain the ability to create Topics of Conversation on news headlines and posts, and comment in the chatrooms.
- Contributors will pay a monthly subscription fee, which will give them full access to post in the Feed, unlock AI tools, manage conversations on their posts, access data on the engagement around their posts, and act as the leading voices on Hedgehog.
Hedgehog’s proprietary moderation system, supported with powerful AI-assisted tools, will empower the community to reward positive speech and remove bad actors. People on Hedgehog earn Respect points, and the community can collectively use that Respect to reject hateful and unproductive behavior. Anyone, even a paying contributor, can lose their access to the platform if they act in an uncivil manner.
Hedgehog is available today in the United States for iOS and Android and on desktop and mobile web browsers at https://www.hedgehog.com. International access will be announced later.
ABOUT HEDGEHOG
Hedgehog is an innovative new platform designed to bring civil discourse and productivity back to social media. Hedgehog’s website and app offer the public the chance to read the news without bias, comment on that news and share their points of view with the community in a respectful and productive manner. Hedgehog is based in the United States. For more information visit https://about.hedgehog.com.
Contact:
For Hedgehog
Kate Brown
(202) 213-7051
media@hedgehog.com
SOURCE Hedgehog Community Inc.