Online Community

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We're seeking open feedback on our Community Blueprints until June 10!

If you want a say in how this community will operate, you can add your feedback at the bottom of this page.

To peruse the rest of our Community Blueprints, click here.

Online Community (App & Website)

DT4T’S online community is made up of a members-only website and app. We aim to create the antithesis of social media as we know it.

Personal Ads

Classified ads used to be an important way for queer people to find each other, using coded language to communicate about their desires. Historically, they have a sexual connotation, but at DT4T, we use this short-form, text-based format to seek out anything from at-home haircuts to crafting buddies to, yes, kinky and sexual connections.

Those familiar with the popular app, Lex, will have an idea of what this component of the Online Community will look like—but, unlike Lex, we’re not caving to rainbow capitalism or the pressure to model ourselves after social media. We’re sticking with simple, text-based ads that lead to one-on-one interactions. No “liking” or “U-hauling” posts. No comment sections. 

Because part of our mission as a community is to coexist beyond capitalism, and because most of our Members are financially struggling, we do not allow any posts requesting money. We have a separate Mutual Aid Board that is updated monthly, where folks with the means to donate can see everyone who needs financial or material support that month. The Personal Ads are reserved for non-monetary forms of aid, like medical supplies, gender-affirming clothing, and offering assistance services like house cleaning, personal care, etc.

We can also use the Personal Ads to advertise our personal business endeavors, as long as they are aligned with Our Commonalities & Core Values. Goods and services include tattooing, hair-cutting, herbal remedies, handmade crafts, and more. 

When we click on a post, we’re taken to the author’s Personal Profile, where we can see their post history and message them.

Member Directory & Personal Profiles

Every Member of DT4T has a Personal Profile that lists all the information we choose to share with other Members. That information includes as much or as little of the following as we want:

• Name
• Pronouns
• City (searchable)
• Age (searchable)
• Bio (400 characters)
• Member since
• Languages (searchable)
• Open to meeting (searchable)
• Potential friends
• Potential supportive connections
• Potential sexual connections
• Potential BDSM connections
• Able to offer (searchable)
• Rides to appointments
• Assistance with chores
• Assistance with personal care
• Financial assistance
• Spare clothing
• Medical supplies
• DIY meds
• etc.
• Selling (searchable)
• Tattoos
• Hair cuts
• Weed
• Crafts
• Herbal remedies
• Card readings
• etc.
• Personal Ads Post History (searchable)

All Members have access to the Member Directory, where we can browse everyone’s Personal Profiles. We can also search by location (proximity within X miles), age, what Members are seeking, what Members are able to offer, and what Members are selling.

(Hopefully Encrypted) One-on-One Messaging

From another Member’s Personal Profile, we can initiate a one-on-one chat. Chat is all text-based for now.

Also for now, we don’t have any group messaging on our platform. All multi-person interactions are part of Events, Groups, or Gatherings—or, of course, Members can exchange personal contact info and have our own group conversations on encrypted messaging apps like Signal.

Support Networking

Many of us lack the support systems we need to sustain ourselves and our access to medical care. Not only can we connect with Members who can offer us help through the DT4T website and app, but we can also build out a visual map of the Members who have offered us their help.

If another Member in my area has agreed to be on hand to drive me to doctor’s appointments when they’re available, for example, I can link their Personal Profile to my Support Network under the role they’ve offered to take on. The other Member must “accept” the invitation to be part of my Support Network. Now, the next time I schedule a doctor’s appointment, I can look at my Support Network page to find the Member who offered me rides, and I can click through to their Personal Profile to message them and ask if they’re available.

Support Roles include:

• Transportation
• Companionship
• Personal Care
• Help at home
• Escort for doctors’ appointments
• Making phone calls
• Pet care
• Running errands
• Patient advocacy
• Emergency room advocacy
• Financial assistance

With each assigned Support Role, we can include comments to indicate whether these Members are able to help in emergencies, what their availability looks like, how they prefer to communicate, and more.

Groups

A Group is a virtual gathering space for like-minded members to connect. Any Member can Host any kind of Group they’d like to.

Groups function similarly to old-fashioned online forums. Anyone can create a Post to initiate a topic of discussion within the group. There’s a chronological comments section that Members of the Group can comment on to participate in the discussion.

The Host is responsible for making sure all Posts and Comments are aligned with Our Core Values & Beliefs by seeing that Members of the Group are self-moderating appropriately, and for gently intervening, when necessary, with friendly reminders of How We Treat Each Other. We do not police each other.

Examples of Groups include:

• Witches
• DIYers
• Gamers
• Sports fans
• Movie reviews
• BDSM skills exchange
• Anything else we can dream up!

Hosts can decide whether to open their group up to all Members or to restrict attendance by identity (such as a Group for Indigenous Members only), age (such as a Group for members under 25), geographic location, or experience (such as a Group that requires additional vetting, like a BDSM Group).

Mutual Aid Board

Every month, Members have the opportunity to submit their financial aid needs to the Mutual Aid Board. Whenever we have money to distribute, Members can check out that board to find out who needs help.

Have thoughts on what you just read?

There are three ways you can add your feedback!

1. Fill out the comment form below.

2. Email your comments to Feedback@disabilit4t.org. 

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