All aboard the SHIP!
The internet doesn't have to feel the way it does. Main's World isn't a social network, a maps app, or an events app — it's the first of a new class, and a new class deserves a name. We call it a SHIP: a Secure Human Interaction Protocol.
Here's what each word means.
Secure
Secure means protecting the things people share and keeping personal identity out of the app. It does not mean every account has been verified as one unique human: a World App sign-in proves control of a wallet, while verification is recorded separately.
Human
This is the direction the whole thing rests on. In an internet increasingly full of machine-generated content and fake engagement, a privacy-preserving way to recognize unique humans could make a healthier, more generous community possible. That is a goal, not a claim about every account today.
Main's World never asks for your name or your email. Today, World App sign-in proves control of a wallet. Any recorded verification is separate, and Orb verification gates Vault claims. Zero-knowledge proofs are a privacy-preserving way to prove statements without exposing the underlying information.
Interaction
Main's World is about presence, not broadcasting. You meet other Mains through moments attached to place and time, then share them with the people you choose. It's connection you can feel — the opposite of shouting into a feed and hoping strangers notice.
Protocol
This is where we're headed. Today, Main's World is the SHIP. Over time, the goal is that the underlying idea — privacy-preserving human verification, honest privacy, a healthier way to connect — becomes something others can build on too.
We use the word "protocol" to name the category, not to oversell something we haven't finished building. It's an honest word for a real ambition.
A new category
Main's World shares users' attention with the big platforms — the social networks, the search giants, the neighborhood apps, the events apps — but it isn't really playing their game. Those are attention businesses: they make money by keeping you looking, and they tolerate bots and fake accounts as a cost of doing business.
A SHIP is built the other way around:
| Attention media | A SHIP |
|---|---|
| Wins when you can't put it down | Wins when you connect, then go live your life |
| Bots and fakes are a cost of business | A future goal: privacy-preserving proof that supports one person, one account |
| You are the product; advertisers are the customer | People are the customers; there are no advertisers |
| Broadcast at strangers for reach | Presence with people who are actually near, actually now |
| Grows by taking more of your attention | Grows a community built on appreciation between Mains |
The shift is quietly underway, and it points toward people.
Next: read the Manifesto, or see how Main's World works.