Hedgehog CEO John Matze set out to fix the divisive discourse that is prominent on so many social media platforms with his recently launched app.
Tech entrepreneur John Matze set out to fix the divisive discourse that is prominent on so many social media platforms with the recently launched app Hedgehog.
«Hedgehog is a community we built for everyday Americans to get the biggest news of the day and have quality discussion about it,» Matze told Fox News Digital.
Matze co-founded Parler in 2018, and the platform became popular among free speech enthusiasts until it was shut down for failing to moderate «egregious content.» Matze is in the middle of suing Parler over his exit, but wanted to make sure his next venture didn’t get sabotaged by bad actors and chaos agents that have ruined the social media experience for so many Americans.
As a result, Matze focused on building a «community of highly engaged and loyal readers» seeking to have thoughtful, respectable conversation on Hedgehog, which quietly launched in February for Apple and Android devices with the social media veteran as CEO.
«We focus on a quality experience for people, and I think that quality experience that you get on Hedgehog, and just how different it is from other social media platforms, that’s really the key to sustainable growth and really the core of our model — productive conversations and discourse, something you don’t get anywhere else,» Matze said.
«On Hedgehog, the community’s really in charge of everything,» he continued. «When you’re on Hedgehog, respectful conversation earns respect. And you can use that respect to determine, you know, what’s OK on the site, you can invite friends, family, and the more respect you earn, the more prominence you have.
