Toggles
The social media co-op. You control the algorithm. Everyone is verified. No ads, no VCs, no extraction.
The Problem
Social media gives you two choices: follow someone and see everything they post, or unfollow them entirely. There's no middle ground. You can't say "I like this person's cooking posts but I don't want to see their political takes." The algorithm decides what you see, and you either accept it or leave.
Toggles introduces that middle ground. Every piece of content gets automatically classified by AI when it's uploaded. Users get toggles — simple switches for topics they care about. Turn something OFF and it disappears from your feed. Turn it to MAX and it gets prioritized. The user is in control, not the algorithm.
How It Works
The toggle system is genuinely different from anything on existing platforms. Here's what happens under the hood.
AI Content Classification
When someone uploads a post — text, image, or video — Claude AI automatically analyzes it and tags it across multiple dimensions: topic, tone, and format. For videos, the system extracts keyframes and analyzes the visual content.
This happens in a background job queue with retry logic and graceful degradation. Users can see exactly how their content was classified — full transparency, no black box. Tap any tag to instantly create a toggle for it.
- Claude Vision for image and video analysis
- Tags organized by topic, tone, and format
- Tap any tag to create a toggle from it
- Video keyframe extraction for accurate tagging
Open-Vocabulary Toggles
Toggles aren't fixed categories — they're discoverable concepts that grow organically. "Politics," "Anime," "Outdoors," "Finance" — anyone can search for or create a toggle. Each one gets 20-60 AI-generated keyword patterns that match against post tags.
The settings page puts everything in one place: a content rating system that sets your comfort level, your active toggles with Off/On/Max controls, and media type filters for text, images, and video.
- Search, discover, and create toggles
- OFF / ON / MAX states per toggle
- Content rating sets your overall comfort level
- Media type filters for text, images, and video
Verified Membership
Every member verifies with a real government ID. Claude Vision extracts your name and location, matches your face against a selfie, and issues a Co-op Card — your verified membership in the Toggles cooperative.
The system is built on reciprocal transparency — if someone views your Co-op Card, you can see who looked. Accounts are secured with passkeys instead of passwords, using your device's biometrics for fast, phishing-resistant login.
- AI-powered ID verification (no third-party services)
- Co-op Card with member number and verified badge
- Reciprocal transparency — see who viewed your card
- Passkey security — biometrics replace passwords
Real-Time Messaging
Full direct messaging built with Socket.io for real-time delivery, with HTTP fallback for reliability. Conversation list, search, and message history — the social layer that makes the platform feel alive.
- WebSocket real-time message delivery
- HTTP fallback for reliability
- Conversation search and history
- Multiple conversation threads
Five Pillars
Toggles is built on principles, not just features. No ads, ever — a $5/month subscription replaces surveillance capitalism. Every user verifies with a real ID. You control the algorithm, not the other way around. Child safety is structural, not an afterthought. And revenue flows back to creators through a cooperative model. The landing page includes an interactive demo where visitors can click toggles through their Off/On/Max states to feel the system firsthand.
Three Ways to Browse
What's Under the Hood
This isn't a weekend project. Toggles is a production social platform with real infrastructure.
Current Status
Toggles is live at toggles.cc with a small test community. The core platform is functional — posting, feeds, toggles, messaging, moderation, and admin tooling are all working. It's a work in progress, and I'm building in public.
The most recent milestone was shipping the open-vocabulary toggle system, replacing 17 hardcoded content categories with a dynamic, AI-powered system that grows with its users.
A Different Kind of Feed
Toggles is my attempt to prove that users don't need algorithms to have a good experience — they just need control.