A First Publication Should Not Require a Thousand Followers

Imagine publishing your first thoughtful video. You have done the work: developed an argument, edited the material and identified the sources. But hardly anyone sees it.

The familiar advice is to build a following, post constantly, network and promote yourself. Some of those activities can create worthwhile relationships. They also take time and energy that not every creator can spare.

Human Layer asks whether discovery could offer another route: a genuine opportunity to reach interested people before a creator has built an audience.

Separate the work from the size of its following

Follower numbers tell us that people have subscribed. They do not, by themselves, establish the relevance, quality or accuracy of a particular contribution.

A proposed Human Layer platform should let people find work through subjects they care about, clear selection criteria and recommendations made voluntarily. Following a creator could remain an option without becoming the entrance requirement for visibility.

This is not a promise of equal views. Audiences have different interests and limited time. The commitment is a fair route to consideration, with rules people can inspect.

What fair discovery might look like

Topic-based discovery could introduce a new contributor to people interested in their subject. Viewers would choose their interests and could change them.

Curated collections could explain why a work was included: a useful introduction, an unusual perspective, careful sourcing or a question worth discussing. A recommendation should carry a reason.

Dedicated opportunities for new contributors could prevent an existing audience from dominating every discovery space. The allocation rules would need testing and protection against duplicate accounts or coordinated promotion.

Finite selections could offer a clear stopping point. Someone should be able to finish exploring a collection and leave without being treated as a failed engagement opportunity.

Curation needs accountability too

Removing follower counts does not remove power. Curators can develop blind spots, favour acquaintances or repeatedly select familiar perspectives.

Possible safeguards include rotating selection responsibilities, declared conflicts of interest, published criteria and a route to challenge procedural mistakes. We should examine who receives discovery opportunities and who repeatedly gets overlooked.

These mechanisms are proposals to test, not proof that we have solved fairness. The people excluded by a design need a voice in evaluating it.

The business model matters

A platform that promises to respect attention needs financial rules consistent with that promise. Human Layer's founding requirements call for fair pay for necessary work, binding limits on private enrichment and transparent revenue use.

After responsible operating costs, necessary development and reasonable reserves, remaining surplus should go to charitable organisations. Those protections must eventually be embedded in ownership, financing and decision-making rules.

They are not legally secured yet. They are requirements for the platform we want to build. Funding that requires removing them would be incompatible with that purpose.

Measure whether the encounter was worthwhile

Views alone cannot tell us whether discovery served the viewer or creator. A pilot could examine whether newcomers reached relevant audiences, whether people understood why work was recommended and whether creators felt compelled to maintain constant promotional activity.

Feedback should be proportionate and privacy-conscious. We do not need to turn every response into a public popularity score.

We want a place where making something worthwhile is followed by a reasonable chance of being discovered—and where growth strengthens the shared purpose.

Read the founding principles for fair attention and shared benefit · Explore the proposed platform.

Discuss the idea or get involved · More from the Human Layer Journal

By Paul-Lukas Hertz. Developed with ChatGPT assistance from the Human Layer founding principles. Human Layer is currently in Phase Zero; the platform features discussed here are proposals, not operating services.