Introducing Media.com’s common-sense guru, James Mawhinney

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

A line from Albert Einstein might seem a bit “out there” when discussing why James Mawhinney, the Australian founder of Media.com, started a social media company. But then, solving problems from a fresh angle even as the problems in question grow new fangs before our eyes… that’s precisely what he’s doing.

Mawhinney wants to clean up social media while letting it evolve. He’s managing a global team focused on building a first-ever fully verified online community. Dreams of “tech with a conscience” are not only present, they’re verifiable. Simple, right?

It’s what Larry Weber, a veteran tech-media expert, calls “evolutionary, not revolutionary tech” that builds on the notion that authentication has become far more attractive to social media users as humanity and technology converge. Weber cited the iPhone as an innovation in design not computing that nevertheless altered how we live and interact with the internet. Crucially, the iPhone was a synthesis. It was (and is) three things in one.

“He didn't invent the computer, he didn't invent the camera and he didn't invent the telephone, but he invented the iPhone,” said Weber, of Apple founder Steve Jobs. “When you understand technology is evolutionary, not revolutionary, it all builds on itself.”

Echoing Weber, Mawhinney envisions a social-media synthesis that builds on the first decades and drains them of their toxicity. He hopes for more honesty in how we interact online through verified traffic and sourced content. He likes to reference the internet’s promise of soaring connectivity, but he’s not cynical about why its networks have failed in many ways.

“The holes in social media are now becoming quite clear and stark,” he said in an interview from Melbourne. “We aim to fill those holes.”

Mawhinney sees connectivity and content as foundational in social media but believes a third dimension—verification—is largely untapped. And while his eyes are open about social media’s pitfalls, Mawhinney is also sympathetic when talking about why news companies, for instance, might take shortcuts in an online environment where clicks and engagement matter more than substance. And he knows why incumbent social media giants tend to skirt accountability for bad information or the presence of bots, fake profiles and burner accounts. (Spoiler: it’s about the advertising; inflating impressions and audience size for ad dollars.)

If any entity deserves blame for social media gone wrong, it’s the underlying business model, he said. Engagement and large user numbers matter when the primary metric is advertising revenue. Both legacy press on one end of the media spectrum and social media pioneers like Meta or X (previously Twitter) on the other are ruled by this pull. Mawhinney hopes for another way – and he’s willing to experiment to attain the best approach.

“Their business models are driven by ad revenues and impressions and less so by authentic engagements,” he said. “We want to bring the focus back to real users and a real media experience.”

Mawhinney's vision is for a safe platform that fosters genuine connections and information integrity — to enhance human lives and commerce — as he guides his company with an ethical compass. That’s the value proposition.

A businessman with a heart? Mawhinney downplays such characterizations. It’s more practical than that. He saw a wide-ranging problem and set out to fix it.

Mawhinney decided to start Media.com about four years ago when he realized everyday interactions (both online and off) could be verified using existing technology. Like many of us, he experienced several negative social media-driven events that led him to examine the value of “solving the distrust in communicating with people you don't know.”

Mawhinney faced his own reputational turmoil in Australia; he’s been embroiled in a personal legal controversy that’s consumed his time, money and will. He’s worked hard to clear his name from a misunderstanding inflamed by social media and hopes to be clear of his difficulties by the end of the year, to turn his attention full-time to helping others avoid his plight.

“This is something that’s touched me very personally,” he said, of targeted misinformation and how quickly it can spread online. “I’ve seen how rapidly harm can be caused at a very substantial scale. I take what we’re doing very seriously.”

He described his experience as “torment” when some bad actors hiding behind fake profiles attacked him online. “I thought, ‘I bet these people would not do this if their name was public,’” he said. “That was the catalyst for my pivot to start Media.com.

“This is far from an Einstein theory. It's just common sense,” he added. “We have all been swept up in the excitement of connectivity and content… and have missed what I think is the most crucial aspect of any mature network: verification of its members, so the interactions are real.”

Real people, real posts, real connections. No bots. Access means a community member is not the hush-hush product, as users and their data tend to be on almost any other social-media or search-engine site. Verified traffic is the path social networks and search engines are “moving towards,” Mawhinney said, because they feel the pressure of discontent. The established apps are nervous to completely do so because it could reduce traffic and hurt ad sales, so they tend to perpetuate half measures and double-speak. What results is a negative frame for social media that is apparent in politics, with nations increasingly looking to regulate harmful content, as well as in daily online life, where news about mental-health hazards tends to dominate coverage of social media’s impact.

Importantly, no major social media platform requires all users the ability to verify one’s identity. Instead, they verify for individuals and entities who are either high-profile users and companies (Snapchat) or paid subscribers (Meta Verified for Facebook and Instagram, and new Twitter Blue for X).

Mawhinney points to Reddit as an application where daily anonymous engagement is enormously important, and that works for Reddit, but he sees room on the other end – where verified profiles bring accountability and therefore deliver more certainty and quality. A cloud cover of trust might not work for Reddit, Instagram or TikTok, but it is the backbone of Media.com. The company’s Trust Center is the mission statement.

Mawhinney didn’t start Media.com from a dorm room or outer space. He’s not a venture capitalist looking to reorder society with artificial intelligence or involvement in high-level geopolitics. What’s most striking about Mawhinney is how grounded he is. He’s focused, literal and clear.

“The internet is not broken, but how we interact with it can easily be improved,” he said. “An internet where we can get to know each other is very possible. What we’re doing is effectively introducing verification of each node. These technologies exist. We’re insulating the problems we all know about with a layer of trust over the top of the internet.

“Social networks don’t know who their users are; they know who their advertisers are,” he added, likening Media.com’s approach to that of the banking industry, which has to know its customers’ identities to stop money laundering and other illicit activities. Think of it as an attempt to stop or at least curtail information laundering, along with identity, data and anxiety laundering.

Doing so doesn’t have to compromise freedom of speech. Mawhinney thinks content safeguards can coexist with free speech, as verification tends to “urge users to think harder before posting to ensure the content’s origin is trustworthy.”

“The best solution is you just have to be more careful about what you write,” he said, “but that’s not good enough. There has to be a technology solution which introduces accountability and transparency to what gets published online.”

While user verification enhances trust, it doesn’t guarantee accuracy or eliminate harm. That’s why content moderation is crucial. Currently, Media.com is manually reviewing community-reported flags, but we plan to invest in a combination of internally built admin tools and third-party software for proactive detection of potentially harmful material.

“I don’t anticipate being able to provide the perfect environment,” Mawhinney admits, as “policing every piece of content is just not a sustainable business model.” Still, if Media.com is able to enhance a large portion of content published online with the stamp of authenticity, while establishing itself as a one-stop media warehouse for business and individuals, it will have found its niche and advanced the cause of conscious, caring tech.

Mawhinney adds that he respects early-stage entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg because he effectively invented social media and made Meta into “one of the world’s most valuable companies, with an enormous number of shareholders.”

“My admiration comes from the perspective that he’s managed to straddle this horse,” he said, referring to how he’s handled scrutiny of his own reputation while remaining focused on his company’s long-term prospects. “He is a pioneer in this space.”

Mawhinney adds that he has no plans to divest in the future and hopes for “a safe place where a person can speak their truth uninterrupted.” He has faith in the process he started and wants Media.com to get its foundation right this year before going live with full functionality.

Weber, for one, is excited about the approach. He sees Media.com’s mission as “the veracity of information, which I think is the job of all of us, but it's going to take innovators like a Media.com to really pull this off and be a leader in the category, because the big guys aren't doing it right now.

“I'm going to be a cheerleader for companies like Media.com and hope they can win this for all of us because we're only going to be a better society if we're told the truth and we use the truth in our decision-making,” Weber said.

Outside of work? Mawhinney says his passion is business. “It doesn't feel like work to me, especially when there’s purpose behind it.” But he soon hopes to spend more time afloat with his partner and five-year-old daughter, as he did growing up around boats most of his younger life in Perth, Western Australia.

“Growing up around boats helps provide a different perspective on life,” he said. “It teaches responsibility, safety, being at one with the elements and provides a sense of freedom. This can be a helpful counterbalance to a very busy lifestyle.”

A very busy lifestyle Mawhinney hopes will translate as Media.com looks to roll out globally within the next year. He’s hoping that “pressure creates diamonds.”

“The words ‘verified community’ prick up a lot of ears in a positive sense,” he said. “I’m feeling confident we’re in a good spot.”