TL;DR: We asked Early Access Program members to dream big about better social, then we dug into Canadian identity and inclusion, ads and monetization, trust and autonomy, and engagement and participation.
Four themes stood out—Informative, Communal, Protective, Authentic—plus a clear set of features you want. Below is a plain-language summary, quotes from participants, what you value and want protected, and where we’re headed next.
Setting Some Context
Earlier this summer we launched our first participatory design activity with our Early Access Program. Thank you to everyone who took part.
We got started by asking you to dream big and imagine what a better social media platform could be. Then, we went into more detail to cover a few of the big topics that are on our minds:
- Canadian Identity & Inclusion
- Ads & Monetization
- Trust & Autonomy,
- Engagement & Participation
Through all the questions and activities, you highlighted some pain points, some big themes emerged, and we got insight into what you value.
Pain Points You Called Out
It’s pretty safe to say that there’s a lot wrong with social media these days. Here’s a list of the big pain points you identified:
- Misinformation and disinformation
- Bots and fake accounts
- Intrusive ads and commercial clutter
- Harassment, hate, scams, slow or unclear enforcement
- AI-generated clutter that makes it difficult to discern what’s real.
Main Themes That Emerged
Communal
You want to support existing communities and develop new ones on Gander Social. Finding connection through proximity and shared interests are central to the experience you want.
The platform should reinforce existing communities, so you can stay connected with family and friends, as well as activities in their own neighbourhoods.
Protective
Safety is a major concern: you want strong rules and protections tied to accountability. Accounts that spread hate speech need to be banned.
As a few social media followers have put it: you mess with the Honk you get the bonk. That means no leniency for trolls, bullies, scammers, and fake accounts.
Authentic
A lot of your comments circled ideas of authenticity. Verification of accounts, trying accounts to real people, and banning bots. Timelines cluttered with ads, bot accounts, misinformation and AI-generated content make your social media experience feel inauthentic.
On the other hand, interacting with real connections and the topics you care about make for an authentic experience.
The Features You Want
When we asked what matters most to you, a few themes rose to the top.
You want control over your feed, flexible ways to share, verification that balances accountability with privacy, and fact-checking tools that make it easier to trust what you see.
Together, these priorities reflect your vision for a space that feels authentic, communal, informative, and safe.
Agency + Feed Control
“I want to control what I see.”
User agency is a hot topic for us and we were glad to see this one come up: you want more influence over who/what shows up in your feed. No creepy suggestions based on a website you visited two weeks ago. It turns out opaque algorithms are poor aggregators of content, seldom delivering things you actually want to see and engage with.
Quite a few of you suggested a chronological feed option to make things transparent. We’re with you – surveillance capitalism isn’t for us either. The feed influences how Authentic the platform feels, and how we connect to Community.
Flexible Sharing
“I want to be able to post audio, video, images and links.”
You want to be able to share content in all the formats you’re used to, so that you can express yourself and share what matters to you and your connections. We hear you loud and clear and the dev team is hard at work making sure you can post in the formats you want to. Having accessible options for sharing reinforces Community
Verification
“A secure way to guarantee that every user is really an actual human being. Preserving anonymity while ensuring that all users are genuinely human.”
You want accounts connected to real people to reduce abuse, misinformation, and foreign interference while keeping options for anonymity on profiles. This is a bit of departure from the current conversation around verification which tends to focus on age – often being imposed via legislation.
We’re glad to hear it, since this is one direction we’ve been exploring ourselves. Privacy is important and so is accountability. This contributes to a more positive Community that is Authentic and Safe.
Fact-checking + Context Tools
“Restrictions on misinformation — properly vetted news content only!”
We’re sick of misinformation too. You want tools that help spot misinformation without extra hassle. Verifying accounts as human should help reduce bots, but they aren’t the only source of misinfo.
Our partnership with Get Fact is another piece of the puzzle, alongside Charter aligned moderation policies and engaging community members to identify/flag misinformation so a moderation team can handle them. So is, you know, allowing news from credible sources to be shared on the platform. We like our facts checked and our journalists accredited.
Fact checking ensures that the platform remains Informative, and for many people, keeps the platform Safe.
What You Value
As we learned when we first founded Gander, “values” can be a pretty nebulous concept. Different people define Canadian values differently and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In fact, we aren’t going to tell you what Canadian Values are or aren’t – instead we’ve invited you on this journey with us to discover what it really means to be Canadian. At least on social media anyways.
Here’s what you told us you value online:
Privacy and trust
You want clear, simple privacy choices and no hidden tracking. You want to know who sees what, why something is in your feed, and how data is handled.
Local / Canadian identity
A platform that feels rooted here, welcomes everyone, and lets you set what “local” means. A strong preference for Canadian hosting (this is non-negotiable for us) and rules you can understand.
Control and clarity
Tools to set your own experience: feed controls, filters, and mute tools. Fewer black-box decisions. Plain language over fine print.
Safety with dignity
Strong rules against harassment, hate, scams, and spam. Fast, visible action when things go wrong, without doxxing or public shaming.
Inclusion and accessibility
Spaces that are welcoming to newcomers and marginalized groups. Basics that work for everyone: captions, alt text, readable type, and simple flows.
Authenticity and human signals
Fewer bots and fake accounts. Clear, optional ways to show you are a real person without exposing your identity.
Transparency and accountability
Easy reporting, traceable outcomes, and consistent enforcement. Open explanations of major policy or algorithm changes.
Sustainability without surveillance capitalism
Ways to fund the platform that do not rely on tracking people across the web. Comfort with subscriptions or context-based sponsorships over behaviour-based ads.
Data ownership and portability
Keep data in Canada, with safeguards. Ability to take your account and followers with you if you move services.
Where to next?
Our development team is working overtime right now to get us into Closed Beta.
In the meantime, the rest of us are hard at work building an onboarding flow, integrating these findings into our roadmap, and doing the ten million and one things that need to get done as we get ready to welcome you onto Gander Social.
- Verification, not just to keep kids safe from harm but to keep those pesky bots and misinfo off the platform.
Creating a system that preserves anonymity while also tying accounts to real people is critical for us. Doing both is possible but requires some careful thinking/design/tech on our end. Your thoughts on verifying to reduce bot traffic fit snugly with how we’re approaching things. - Fact Checking. Another biggie. Thankfully, we have Get Fact in our corner, so we can pilot fact-checking when users report suspected dis/misinfo.
We’re also looking at models that blend community participation with professional fact checking services. Cofacts from Taiwan look to have a workable model. We’re taking notes. - Sustainability without surveillance capitalism. We’re exploring subscriptions for premium features, branded accounts, and we’re looking at the feasibility of ethical, in-app sponsored experiences.
- More participatory design activities. Since the Early Access Program has grown pretty substantially since we started this, we’re going to invite new subscribers to participate and get more insights.
