New Social Media Startup Wants Creators to Keep 60% of All Platform Revenue

LOS ANGELES—In response to rising wealth inequality and hateful content online, indie film producer Jess Zakira Wise and digital advertising executive Cliff Atkinson co-founded Mesh Communities, a new social media platform for creators to monetize their content and keep their communities safe.

“We believe creators should have ownership of their content and share in the massive value they generate for tech companies,” says Wise. “We want to add another 500,000 people to the group of creators making a living wage on social media by 2025.”

Unlike other social media platforms built on surveillance advertising, Mesh is built on a new model—“community-based advertising”—where ads are approved and monetized by creators, adding a new revenue stream for creators already monetizing from brand sponsorships and subscriptions.

According to Ban Surveillance Advertising, corporations like Facebook and Google that control today’s information flow are among the richest in the world—but their platforms are ‘free.’

These tech giants track and profile us, and then sell advertisers as much of our attention with as much precision as possible—personalizing everything we see including ads, news, recommendations and more to keep users hooked.

Mesh is founded on the principle that every community deserves ample resources to connect and monetize. Mesh enables creators to build their own social media experiences and spaces, make their own connections, design and post their own content—and get paid for it in the process.

Creators can make money through contributions, subscriptions, of which Mesh takes a 0% platform fee, and community-based advertising, where community leaders choose brands that share their values to advertise to their communities through in-feed ads—and keep 60% of the revenue. Mesh only makes money when creators make money.

“With new privacy policies and a cookieless future ahead of us, it will be challenging for brands to succeed using surveillance advertising.” says Atkinson. “At Mesh, we are designing a model that focuses on developing relationships between brands and creators of all sizes.”

Mesh allows content creators to connect directly with brands, creating a more personal approach to advertising for consumers and businesses. Because creators and brands work directly together, there is no need for Mesh to track individual users’ behaviors off the application to manipulate the content they see.

Mesh has been designed and developed with trust, safety and ethics in mind. Ownership is foundational to Mesh’s mission to create generational wealth by leveraging the power of social media.

“Changing the ad model creates a lot of additional opportunities for creator monetization. We’re working on features like people receiving royalties for their content shared in other monetized communities, for example,” says Wise. “We’re just starting to explore all of the possibilities.”

Mesh challenges the way business is done online by giving control to its end users—providing content creators with the tools and resources to design and control their own content, who has access to it, and which brands will be allowed to market in their curated community spaces.

These online communities come with built-in features designed to enhance trust, safety, equity, intersectionality and authenticity. Additionally, Mesh provides features like reporting, mutes, bans and more to help control potential harm or negative interactions.

Download the app in the iTunes or Google Play stores.


Media Contact:
Jessica Reveles | Publicist
(213) 296-4448 | Hello@JSquaredComm.com
www.JSquaredComm.com

-- Ends --

5062 Lankershim Blvd, Ste 1040
North Hollywood, CA 91601

About Mesh Communities:
Mesh is an emerging social media platform built for content creators, community leaders and ethical businesses, established in 2020. Mesh, as a platform, establishes a fair and sustainable economy for communities and content creators. Mesh is the best parts of social media redesigned for trust, safety and ownership. At Mesh, our mission is to build community—where everyone has a place to belong. It’s your community. Own it.

About Jess Zakira Wise:
For over eight years, Jess Zakira Wise worked in the film industry as an independent film producer. She produced two feature films along with over 100 projects including short films, commercials and web series. She specifically worked on a documentary that relates directly to the creator economy, which went on to tour various countries.

As a content creator herself, Jess has seen firsthand the challenges creators face when attempting to make money from their work. As such, Jess co-created Mesh to turn social media on its head and lead with creators and community-based advertising in mind.

Jess now operates as Mesh’s CEO and continues to serve as a small business consultant focused on growth and business development.

About Cliff Atkinson
For 20 years, Cliff Atkinson has helped clients with their marketing efforts by developing digital strategies to meet their business challenges and objectives. Currently, Cliff leads the Digital Media practice at RPA, inclusive of all strategy, social, programmatic, search and ad ops. He has been influential in helping pioneer a data driven marketing approach around the marriage of media and messaging.

Prior to RPA, Cliff helped lead the Toyota digital strategy and investment practice at Saatchi & Saatchi LA. Prior to his more than 12 years at Saatchi & Saatchi L.A., Cliff began his career at Grey NY and progressed through the dynamic world of digital with key posts at various agencies, including Deutsch N.Y. and L.A. His account experience includes Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Coors Light, UnitedHealthcare and the Discovery Channel.

Cofounders Jess Zakira Wise and Cliff Atkinson are available for interviews and photographs.

This release was published on openPR.