Is Europa creating it own Social Media
In a move that feels less like a technological revolution and more like a bureaucratic exercise in digital hand-wringing, a new European social media platform dubbed “W-Social” (or simply “W”) has been unveiled. Announced amidst the champagne and self-congratulation of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the platform is positioning itself as the “responsible” European alternative to Elon Musk’s X. But if the early details are anything to go by, “responsible” might just be a euphemism for “unusable.”
The premise of W is steeped in a uniquely European irony: to escape the data-hungry clutches of Silicon Valley, users must surrender even more personal information. The platform, led by former eBay Chief Privacy Officer Anna Zeiter, touts “privacy” and “verification” as its twin pillars. Yet, in a baffling contradiction, it plans to require users to upload government-issued ID just to participate. It seems the solution to online privacy concerns is, apparently, to create a digital panopticon where anonymity is outlawed and your passport is your login key. One can only imagine the enthusiasm with which the average internet user—already weary of data breaches—will hand over their most sensitive documents to a startup subsidiary of the climate platform “We Don’t Have Time.”
The branding itself feels sterile, a sort of corporate Lorem Ipsum come to life. The “W” reportedly stands for “We,” while also representing two Vs for “Values” and “Verified.” It is the kind of sanitized, committee-designed acronym that drains all joy from the concept of social connection before a single post is made. By framing itself so rigidly as the anti-X, W risks becoming a digital ghost town—a “safe space” so sterilized by identity checks and high-minded regulatory compliance that it lacks the chaotic, vibrant pulse that actually drives social media engagement.
Critics are already questioning the viability of such a high barrier to entry. While European lawmakers may applaud a platform that plays nice with the Digital Services Act, the average user is likely to look at the ID verification requirement and simply close the tab. The internet thrives on friction-free interaction; W appears intent on building a fortress.
Currently in a closed, invite-only phase, W seems destined to become an echo chamber for the very elites who launched it in Davos—a place for verified politicians and corporate officers to nod in agreement with one another, safely insulated from the messy, unverified masses they claim to serve. If this is Europe’s answer to Big Tech, Silicon Valley has absolutely nothing to worry about.
* pcmag.com
* cybernews.com
* iamexpat.nl
* cybernews.com
