X-Press is neither a normal blog nor a newspaper! Simply put, it’s like a mixture of both with elements of a forum. We have thousands of newspapers and blogs, but there is no platform through which people can truly discuss things. The communication is always from the author to the reader, this is what we want to change!
How will this discussion work?
1. Private - You can create a private discussion and invite specific people to participate.
2. Regional - You can create a locally-restricted discussion.
3. Global - If you don't want to limit the topic’s visibility, you can launch a global discussion
Further below you will find further information about our project, but we can assure you that we've searched for such a platform for a long time, and it definitely doesn't exist yet! No more bulky newspapers that offer no opportunity for you to reply with your own thoughts. Join in and discuss!
Why will X-Press become successful?
The most important point is that something like X-Press doesn’t exist yet! But as you can see, for example on social platforms, it is highly desired! The people want to discuss and they hate baiting!
In order that the platform will be in general free of charge, you can easily try out our functions – this is how we will gain more users! Most of the people will probably use the private function at the beginning, because they firstly want to discuss with people they know. But X-Press will offer two more very interesting options which will guarantee a long-term success!
As opposed to social platforms, we will strictly monitor "public activities", a complex moderator system will prevent abuse. And because a financial incentive motivates the people the most to write good articles, you will also have the possibility to earn money with your articles.
And you can be sure, we collect €20,000 because we want to assure a highly professional platform.
And who uses the public discussions?
In principle, there is no classic target group like other products have. As a result, X-Press is freely available anywhere, and anyone who desires to use the platform can do so. However, there are three groups of people for whom X-Press will be particularly interesting.
1. People who run a blog and want to effectively win new readers. You can easily create an account and publish an article (which can be published on your own blog as well).
2. Those who like to express their opinion but do not feel like working on a blog of their own. The whole community will read your article, so you have a guaranteed readership.
3. Classic newspaper, magazine and blog readers. As a reader, you can see at a glance what the community likes and what is most discussed. Engage with them, or simply read articles on the topics that you like.
Join in and discuss!
Why should I support you now?
This phase of the project will determine its success or failure and if you believe in our idea, if you are as enthusiastic about the project as we are, then we would be very grateful for your support.
We believe that with our project we can make the world a little bit better. And you can help us!
Will the product cost anything?
In general, the entire platform will be free of charge and free of annoying advertising.
In order to cover all costs, of course we must still earn money somehow, but a paid account to read the articles or something similar is not a viable alternative.
How will you cover the costs?
As you know, X-Press will essentially be free, but In order to cover all costs, of course we still must earn money somehow. The money is used to finance X-Press and its further development and does not serve to make us rich. Therefore, we commit ourselves to voluntarily donate 50% of our balance sheet profit for a good purpose.
1. The reader will be able to complete a subscription (€5/month) with authors of his choice, through which he will be informed about all activities of those writers. The €5 are divided equally between the author1 and X-Press, which serves to support the authors financially in their work.
2. We will introduce the upgrade “Supporter-Account”, which can be seen as a monthly donation. In return you will get the following:
- unlimited number of subscriptions
- unlimited number of private discussions
- unlimited number of members within a private discussion
- free choice as to how much money should flow to which author and how much money to X-Press
- exclusive information about our social projects and invitations to them; you may also decide together with us where our profit should go
What do you do with the donations?
- The donations are 100 percent used to fund the programming of the platform!
Due to the program’s complexity, there can be no prototype.
Opportunities
With ideas like this, there’s no limitation. In the end, every human being on earth could be able to use X-Press. We think that we are creating a product that can positively change the world; we think that we are creating a product that does not exist yet, but that is wanted by the people. This provides the opportunity and the potential to establish the platform in the long term and expand it into a constructive opinion portal.
Risks and challenges
The biggest challenge is to build a community that X-Press perceives as being what it is meant for. It is a risk that individual populists and extremists will attempt to influence the platform in a negative way. This danger is not to be underestimated, especially at the present time. However, as our platform is trying to counter this trend, we think that we can master these challenges by communicating our goals openly, together with your support.
Who we are
-Hi, I am Henrik. After my graduation, I will follow my girlfriend to the University of Mannheim where I will study mathematical economics. Maybe you already met Lisa in the introduction video. Like her, I read daily news from around the world and am eager to express my opinion on several topics. I have long searched for a platform where communication is not only in one direction, as is the case with newspapers. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find such a place. I then thought about it for a long time, whether I should found the platform myself, which would take substantial effort being that I can hardly program. But because I did not want to drop this idea, I came across Kickstarter. Here I hope to meet people who are enthusiastic about my idea and willing to support it so that the platform can finally be released.
-Hey, I am Anna, and I am currently studying Business Administration at the University of Mannheim. Generally, I manage all the tasks and duties and I am, above all, the helping hand. In contrast to my friend, I won’t be publishing political articles, but mainly articles about travel. I love to travel, and I always look for a way to exchange with other people about certain destinations. When Henrik introduced his idea, I was really excited about it, and I really think that this platform could be used to share opinions. The initial plan had some major gaps and problems, and I spent many hours identifying and fixing them, hence why I now manage everything.
And what is our honest impetus? To want to change something for the positive. Perhaps it also sprouts from the drive of not wanting to accept the current situation. This project has emerged from an idea, a project that can perhaps change something...and yes, we are young! This does not change the fact that we have a vision, a goal ahead of us. We have the necessary ambition and the corresponding endurance, but at the same time, we are aware that we will need to fill our team with experienced and seasoned minds. Every individual has weaknesses, and it’s only when one becomes aware of those weaknesses that they can grow, improve, and compensate for them. Our greatest weakness is certainly a lack of experience. However, we feel that innovation is not necessarily based on experience because, on the contrary, experience can lead to rigidness, routines, and closed-mindedness which can slow down innovation.
