Towns
Words by: Joseph Genest
Images via Towns
Images via Towns
“I’m so curious about what happens to the internet. When we communicate, it also comes with our reputation and the things we’re doing. I think Towns is going to make that much more human.” - Ben Rubin, founder of Towns: a chat app for permissionless group chats.
Rubin’s fascination with how we communicate online has already altered the internet’s course once before.
In 2015, his team launched Meerkat, which enabled people to stream live videos to their Twitter and Facebook audiences (something both platforms would later adopt). Difficult to compete with the two tech giants, the Meerkat team pivoted to developing Houseparty: a group video chat app for friends to connect privately. In 2019, the app sold to Epic Games for a reported $35 million.
In 2015, his team launched Meerkat, which enabled people to stream live videos to their Twitter and Facebook audiences (something both platforms would later adopt). Difficult to compete with the two tech giants, the Meerkat team pivoted to developing Houseparty: a group video chat app for friends to connect privately. In 2019, the app sold to Epic Games for a reported $35 million.
“I love bringing people online from different angles. I’ve been doing it my entire career,” says Rubin touching on his latest project, Towns.
Ben with Towns' cofounders
Towns wants to change the way we group chat. Built on the River protocol (also developed by Rubin’s team), the app hosts decentralized, encrypted chats that anyone can sign up and use. What makes the project ‘permissionless’ is that group members are allowed in by a set of rules established by the chat creator rather than a centralized administrator.
An excellent example of how a permissionless group chat works is trading groups, which are popular amongst crypto communities (which, Rubin stated are often ‘embarrassing’). Home to many rug pulls and scams, a user can create a Towns group with the rule that only people with $100,000+ in ETH can enter the group. Since that information is public, it doesn’t require admin approval. This model also gives everyone in the group a sense of security they’re amongst their peers.
“We’re not reinventing the group chat,” remarks Rubin, “we’re not doing anything new but adding something very simple. By changing access control into why somebody’s here, suddenly the product feels very different because it’s about what the conversation is going to do. You can fundamentally trust what’s going on there.”
An excellent example of how a permissionless group chat works is trading groups, which are popular amongst crypto communities (which, Rubin stated are often ‘embarrassing’). Home to many rug pulls and scams, a user can create a Towns group with the rule that only people with $100,000+ in ETH can enter the group. Since that information is public, it doesn’t require admin approval. This model also gives everyone in the group a sense of security they’re amongst their peers.
“We’re not reinventing the group chat,” remarks Rubin, “we’re not doing anything new but adding something very simple. By changing access control into why somebody’s here, suddenly the product feels very different because it’s about what the conversation is going to do. You can fundamentally trust what’s going on there.”
Setting up a Towns is relatively simple. With a similar feeling to Slack, users can establish different parameters that include pricing, gated access, and maximum number of members. Whether it’s a community, creator, brand, or even just your friends, Towns offers an elevated layer of trust and exclusivity to group chats that Rubin believes will curate a better experience for members.
When asked how creators or brands will use Towns, Rubin states that the exclusivity of these groups will be a great marketing tool, citing how loyalty can be rewarded into tiers of customer segments. For example, if Nike wanted to reward its .SWOOSH holders who’ve also bought other Nike digital assets, can create a Town for exclusive deals, only enabling access for .SWOOSH + Nike holders via the NFT’s contract addresses.
For sneaker enthusiasts, this permissionless model can be applied to building a community of collectors who own Nike, adidas, and more. By pulling the contract addresses of Nike, adidas, and other brands’ Web3 projects, someone could only allow permission to people who actually own items from those companies, eliminating the bots, spam, and window shoppers of the NikeTalk days.
Towns also enables roles within groups, creating separate channels for other private and exclusive experiences. With roles, members don’t have to own a digital asset but can be assigned a position/access to a channel, which utilizes ‘moderator’ features like managing the group or banning members. Roles also help control who can read, write, or participate in certain activities. The goal of roles is to reward active community members and superfans.
“You’ve been here since the beginning and are still a holder? You’re granted access as a moderator,” notes Rubin as an example.
With a public launch date of October 15, the app’s private Beta already has thousands of sign-ups. While the Web3 community will likely be the first to adopt Towns, it wouldn’t be surprising if Rubin’s app is ahead of the curve again, permanently changing how we design group chats soon.
When asked how creators or brands will use Towns, Rubin states that the exclusivity of these groups will be a great marketing tool, citing how loyalty can be rewarded into tiers of customer segments. For example, if Nike wanted to reward its .SWOOSH holders who’ve also bought other Nike digital assets, can create a Town for exclusive deals, only enabling access for .SWOOSH + Nike holders via the NFT’s contract addresses.
For sneaker enthusiasts, this permissionless model can be applied to building a community of collectors who own Nike, adidas, and more. By pulling the contract addresses of Nike, adidas, and other brands’ Web3 projects, someone could only allow permission to people who actually own items from those companies, eliminating the bots, spam, and window shoppers of the NikeTalk days.
Towns also enables roles within groups, creating separate channels for other private and exclusive experiences. With roles, members don’t have to own a digital asset but can be assigned a position/access to a channel, which utilizes ‘moderator’ features like managing the group or banning members. Roles also help control who can read, write, or participate in certain activities. The goal of roles is to reward active community members and superfans.
“You’ve been here since the beginning and are still a holder? You’re granted access as a moderator,” notes Rubin as an example.
With a public launch date of October 15, the app’s private Beta already has thousands of sign-ups. While the Web3 community will likely be the first to adopt Towns, it wouldn’t be surprising if Rubin’s app is ahead of the curve again, permanently changing how we design group chats soon.
Want to chat with Ben on Towns?
Join Knead's Town at the link below for an exclusive upcoming AMA:
https://app.towns.com/t/0xf4d5824d6e1d44eb00d52243bc6941d9305b2441/
https://app.towns.com/t/0xf4d5824d6e1d44eb00d52243bc6941d9305b2441/
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