Jeff Brain is the Founder and CEO of Clouthub, a popular media platform. He shared that he felt social media was missing an opportunity to do something different. We all know the problems with social media…free speech, privacy invasion and they’re also sacrificing your mental health. He feels that for the most part people are focused on things that don’t matter like just posting something and then counting the likes—there’s something missing. Instead he’d rather give them the tools they need to connect, collaborate and influence what they really care about…what they’re passionate about. Social media is really such a powerful tool, and it can be used to benefit society and our lives. So Clouthub is really about empowering people.
Scott commented that platforms have changed, for instance Facebook, he remembers an aunt posting that she just had a cup of tea and biscuits—these types of mindless things no one really cares about. And now social media platforms are being used in the political landscape (if you’re allowed), for free speech and entire businesses are being run on them. So is this something you feel you can do better? First of all, Jeff replied, Facebook and Twitter were never designed with the tools to be at the center of political debate, whereas Clouthub was built from the ground up with that in mind. They actually combined features such as, channels and video sharing, like Youtube, group and private hubs, like Facebook, and timelines, like Twitter—which makes it a powerful platform. Instead of jumping around on different platforms, everything can happen in one place—with no worries about getting censored!
Speaking of censorship, they talked about the difference between even a decade ago, how people could speak out, it was allowed. But today there is an obvious double standard—you mention vaccines or Trump or covid and you are de-platformed.
Scott shared that censorship does so much more than just suppress free speech, it also prevents people from gaining the knowledge to be shared. In cases where information about health is being censored, that could negatively impact someone’s health, livelihood or well-being. Jeff agreed that absolutely, we saw this happen with doctors, experts in their field, having videos taken down because they were talking about the benefits of hydroxychloroquine. And now that we are seeing that there are real benefits to it, there has even been talk of these platforms being held responsible for not allowing this information that may have saved many people from dying. There are real life consequences—social media platforms were not put in place to be making decisions on what we, as Americans, are allowed to share or know about. We are used to tyranny coming from the government, but now we’re seeing it coming from companies.
Scott asked about the group feature of Clouthub since they just received their first strike from YouTube. Jeff explained that you can have groups, large or small, on a common interest where you can post videos such as a family group, or a non-profit organization, a campaign group, people that teach online, etc. It can also be a homeowners association, a chamber of commerce where they can share files, post meetings..endless possibilities. Scott added that he likes that it’s not about the numbers and how many likes.
Clouthub is adding a civic hub where you can go to talk to elected officials at the state and local level. They are also adding various hubs for faith, entertainment, education, finance, business, health—basically connecting you to what matters most to you. He explained that for instance in the faith hub, there can be listings for different services of all faiths, have access to inspirational books or movies, and chat groups within the hub. Our country has become so divided and here is a place to find common ground again. ”Finally!” said Scott.
Jeff added that Clouthub is intentionally not “red or blue” but a place to come together and get back to solving problems again. “Clouthub is where you come to DO things,” said Jeff. “It’s a place for change makers to change the world.”
