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“Tech companies have gone too far. They have exploited the public, and a counter-movement has begun. People are tired of being slaves to technology.”

— Mariek Vanden Abeele, professor Digitale Cultuur
Source: Knack. Exit WhatsApp? Waarom plots zo veel gebruikers overstappen naar Signal, 10/02/2025

What is Rendeznous?

Rendeznous is a web application that allows you to discover and share public and private events. It aims to offer an alternative to some aspects of popular social media platforms, taking a step toward a more ethical and independent internet.

Rendeznous is an experiment in continuous development: an exploration of how a platform without addictive mechanisms, commercial pressure, or algorithms can still be relevant in today's internet.

What a madness

Big Tech stands against various basic human and social ideals.

• They gather data from their users and sells them to corporations, making billions in the process. Most of the money goes to the CEO’s (like Zuckerberg and Musk), who are using their wealth to influence/manipulate politicians like Trump.
• Big Tech does not value your privacy, on the contrary. The more data they can gather, the more they can sell them, the more money they earn.
• These companies love their monopoly position. They won't invest in true innovation because it's not to their advantage. Whenever new developers start to develop new and interesting things, Big Tech lure them in and buy them out (which is easy because they have literal trillions of dollars to their names). In this way they block the development of new social media platforms. But more importantly, in this way they block initiatives for making the internet what the internet was originally made to be: a decentralised, open source ecology.
• Big Tech social media platforms gather your data and use them to make a profile based on your data. They know how old you are, in which country you live, your gender, what videos you watch, when you watch them and for how long. This data is used to predict and influence behaviour. For example, if you are a man in your twenties and you like watching boxing videos you will get advertisements for axe. But the most scary thing is that your algorithm will also propose other content that you might like: alt right propaganda, manosphere videos, … just because your profile matched a certain user profile. When the Big Tech owners become openly affiliated with certain politicians, it is very much in their power to boost these kinds of contents and to hide other views on things.
• Mark Zuckerberg decided not to use fact-checking on Meta anymore. For many users, Meta has become their main information supplier, so this is very dangerous. Things like zionist propaganda or misinformation from big oil companies will easily spread across Meta, often in subtle ways. As long as the content generates engagement, it does not matter if it is true or not. Sounds a lot like Trump or other far-right politicians, doesn’t it?
• Algorithms are optimised for engagement, and engagement is driven by emotional intensity. Negative content reliably generates more reactions, more watch time, and therefore more profit. As a result, social media systems become structurally biased toward polarisation.

Source: Alternative Social Media / Alternatives to Big Tech (unfortunately in google docs)

Towards a slower internet

The internet has become fast, noisy and overwhelming.
Rendeznous is an attempt at something slower.

I aimed to give visitors the tools they need without commercial pressure, manipulative algorithms and other toxic malpractices!

• RDNS is not an all-embracing platform that combines every aspect of social interaction, entertainment and networking, but one with a clear focus on events.
• Free and accessible (Yes! Also for visually impaired people)
• A registration is not required to discover events ( = this is honestly all you really want to do on RDNS). For those who want to create or save events, the registration is as user-friendly as possible → no (email) addresses, no actual names and no difficult password required.
• There are no automatic suggestions, trending lists, or algorithmic recommendations: what you see is in chronological order and can be determined by the filters you choose.
• If there are no upcoming events, there is nothing to see, creating a natural and honest dynamic without artificial incentives to keep attention fixed.
• The number of visible events is limited to counter endless scrolling and overplanning.
• No ads.
• No one can see what you save and data storage is kept to the bare minimum (only what is necessary to make the platform up and running). There is no tracking or click-and-scroll analysis.
• Without loud notifications or distractions, it is possible to subscribe for a fully adjustable newsletter.
• Stimulus-friendly: the layout is simple and straightforward, some might event say boring... good!

Help rdns

• by dispersing this poster.
• by giving feedback on this page or via e-mail.
• by considering a donation.
• by helping me find a job, hiring me for a web-related project or just wishing me good health.

Thank you!
ℓ٥ﻻ ﻉ√٥υ xx

Kurtgustil
gustave [dot] curtil [at] tutanota [dot] com