Got a few people reply who were hesitant about getting Telegram, cause they thought I was going to do what everyone and their dog is doing, which is build an “app” on Skool.
And frankly. That’s a valid question.
Firstly. The app ecosystem sucks. It runs like shit on your mobile phone and even if you’re paying for the premium features, people are still getting blasted with adverts to join similar communities as yours…
From a security standpoint, comparing Telegram to Skool…
Telegram is a bank vault, where Skool is essentially a cardboard box with a “please don’t steal sign on it”
Telegram offers end-to-end encryption for secret chats, meaning your conversations are scrambled into unreadable code that only you and your recipient can decrypt, this also applies to your groups you create and the content you decide to house on it too.
The thing is, even Telegram itself can’t read your messages.
Skool on the other hand?
It’s a centralised platform storing all your data on servers that governments can subpoena, hackers can breach, and corporate overlords can data mine for profit.
When you’re building communities discussing sensitive topics, do you really want some Silicon Valley company having full access to every word your audience shares?
Telegram keeps your communications private by design, while Skool treats your data like a product to be analysed, stored, and potentially monetised.
One platform was built by privacy advocates who fled authoritarian regimes. The other was built by entrepreneurs who see your audience as a revenue stream.
Now I’m not saying that I’m going to be creating a community that’s going to overthrow a government or whatever.
It’s just a place for me to store ideas, while giving people a place to rest their weary legs while they try run away from social media permanently.
I mean, have you been paying attention to what’s happening in the real world?
The UK’s Online Safety Act is tightening the noose.
The US is teeing up legislation that would make your grandmother’s Facebook wall a regulated utility.
Every centralised platform is one bureaucratic sneeze away from becoming a surveillance tool that makes your members uncomfortable, quiet, or gone.
And social media?
That’s already finished. It’s a rage-bait cemetery where 300 ChatGPT clones post the same “most people won’t tell you this” carousel while an algorithm decides who sees your stuff based on how angry it makes strangers.
Verified blue-tick wankers pretending life is perfect while behind closed doors we know it’s not. Although that won’t stop them from schilling some bullshit empowerment course to you and happily keep you on that hamster wheel.
Anywho.
You know what to do.
Stephen Walker.
Definitely not an obnoxiously long link to get you to join my Telegram group.