It's what we otter do.
Social media built with accountability.
Spelled with an "i" because I choose to live in communiti with accountability.
Our Philosophy
Why accountability matters in digital communities
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Why We Hold Hands
Ever wonder why otters are often seen holding hands while floating on their backs? It's not just for show—this precious behavior is called "rafting," and it's a matter of life and survival.
In the wild, sea otters often sleep and rest in the open ocean. To avoid drifting away from their group or being pulled apart by currents while asleep, they link paws—literally forming little floating rafts of togetherness.
This behavior isn't just practical—it's deeply social:
- •It helps maintain group cohesion, keeping families and companions close
- •It reinforces strong social bonds, especially between mothers and pups
- •It ensures safety in numbers, reducing the risk of predators picking them off while vulnerable
Some otters also anchor themselves with kelp, wrapping the long seaweed around their bodies like a natural tether to the seabed. But even then, they'll often still reach for a buddy's paw—because when you're an otter, connection is everything.
Otters teach us that even in the wild, trust and touch can be powerful tools for survival.
Like otters forming rafts in the open ocean, we believe communities thrive when we intentionally stay connected—holding onto one another through the currents of digital life. That's why we built Communiti with accountability at its core.
"The proverb says, everyone is accountable to someone, even the king is accountable to God. Every community has accountability structures. We have treated online communities as if they don't, but they do. Because we ignore them, they don't show up until someone runs through the guardrails.
In the aftermath, someone has been abused, or someone's life is changed, or a career is lost.
Communiti.life is built with voluntary, community accountable relationships so that we can exist in the digital community the way we exist in the analog community. For this reason, communiti.life is spelled with an "i" because I choose to live in communiti with accountability.
What We're Building
Communiti is a social media platform designed for churches, schools, nonprofits, and community organizations. Unlike traditional social platforms that treat online communities as lawless spaces, we recognize that healthy communities—whether physical or digital—thrive on accountability structures.
How It Works
- Voluntary Accountability Relationships: Users choose their accountability partners—parents for children, mentors for youth, peers for adults, supervisors for staff. These relationships are transparent, consent-based, and age-appropriate.
- AI-Powered Safeguarding: Content moderation using OpenAI and Google Perspective API detects harmful content before it causes harm. Flagged content triggers appropriate accountability workflows.
- Three-Layer Framework: Feed-level standards (community rules), personal standards (self-governance), and accountability oversight (safeguarding) work together to create a safe digital environment.
- Complete Transparency: All privacy overrides are logged, all parties are notified, and the system is designed to prevent secret monitoring while enabling protection.
Why This Matters
Traditional social media platforms address harmful content only after damage is done—through reporting systems, moderation queues, and reactive policies. By then, abuse has occurred, trust is broken, and lives are affected.
Communiti takes a proactive approach: building accountability into the fabric of the platform from day one. We believe digital communities should operate with the same healthy accountability structures that make physical communities thrive.
Platform Features
Built from the ground up with safeguarding and accountability at the core
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AI-Powered Safeguarding
Pattern detection identifies grooming behaviors and escalating conflicts before harm occurs.
Dual AI model architecture: Claude 3.5 Sonnet for contextual analysis plus custom fine-tuned models for specialized threat detection. Backed by OpenAI Moderation API and Google Perspective API.
Real-time detection of harassment, hate speech, grooming, and harmful content with explainable AI reasoning.
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Complete Accountability
Four relationship types: Guardian→Child, Guardian→Youth, Spouse, Accountability Partner, and Supervisor→Staff. Each with age-appropriate oversight levels.
Natural progression from full coaching (ages 8-12) to peer accountability (18+).
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Full Transparency
Complete audit trail with privacy override notifications. All parties are informed when oversight is activated. No secret monitoring.
7-year retention for serious cases, 2-year for routine oversight. Trust through radical transparency.
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Multi-Organization Support
Users participate in multiple communities simultaneously—church, school, sports team—with unified feed and organization-specific content.
Hierarchical organizations with sub-groups and role-based permissions.
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Familiar Social Features
Posts, comments, 7-reaction system (love, like, celebrate, pray, concern, sad, angry), photo/video sharing, polls, and events.
Instagram/Facebook UX with accountability infrastructure underneath.
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Privacy & Security
Dormant accountability (only activates on AI flags), role-based access control, multi-tenant data isolation, and complete data portability.
Privacy-first design with transparent safeguarding when protection is needed.
Built For Communities
Churches & Faith Communities
Youth ministries, children's programs, small groups, and church-wide communication with built-in safeguarding for staff-youth interactions.
Schools & Educational Institutions
Student communities, parent-teacher-student communication, clubs and activities, with age-appropriate oversight for student safety.
Nonprofits & Community Organizations
Volunteer coordination, program management, community engagement with accountability for staff and volunteers working with vulnerable populations.
Sports Teams & Youth Programs
Coaches, parents, and athletes with supervisory oversight for coach-athlete communication and parent transparency into program activities.
Oklahoma HB 3958 Compliant
Built-in compliance for staff-minor communication transparency
What is HB 3958?
Oklahoma House Bill 3958 (2024) requires that when school personnel communicate electronically with students, a parent or guardian must be included in the communication.
Communiti automatically enforces this requirement, protecting children, staff, and organizations.
Auto-CC Guardian System
When a staff member messages a minor, Communiti automatically includes the minor's guardian(s) in the conversation. No manual steps required.
- ✓ Staff initiates message to minor
- ✓ System detects staff→minor communication
- ✓ Guardian(s) auto-added to thread
- ✓ All parties notified of compliance
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Children Protected
Parental awareness ensured
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Staff Protected
Documentation of conduct
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Organizations Protected
Compliance demonstrated
When Auto-CC Applies:
✓Staff → Minor
✗Staff → Adult
✗Parent → Minor
✗Minor → Minor
Technology Stack
Backend
- • Python 3.12 + FastAPI
- • MySQL 8.0 with SQLAlchemy ORM
- • OpenAI Moderation API
- • Google Perspective API
- • JWT authentication
- • Docker containerization
Frontend
- • Next.js 14 + React
- • TypeScript
- • Tailwind CSS
- • React Query for data fetching
- • Responsive design (mobile-first)
- • WCAG AAA accessibility
AI-Powered Safeguarding Stack
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Contextual Analysis
Custom SageMaker
Grooming Detection
OpenAI Moderation
Content Safety
Perspective API
Toxicity Scoring
Dual AI model architecture with model agreement indicators for increased confidence in safeguarding decisions.
Project Status
Communiti is currently in active development. We're building a platform that puts accountability first, not as an afterthought.
Current Phase: Beta development
Target Launch: Q2 2025
Open Source: Planned upon reaching stable release