The 20 Invariants
Every change to CommonPlace must preserve ALL of these invariants. If a change violates any invariant, it is incorrect -- even if it works, even if users want it.
1. Participation Is Always Voluntary
No prompts like "What's on your mind?", no guilt for silence. Users are never nudged, reminded, or pressured into posting, responding, or returning. The system never implies that absence is a problem.
2. Calm Is the Default State
No urgency cues, badges, countdowns, infinite scroll. The platform's resting state should feel settled and quiet. Animation, color, and motion are used sparingly and never to create arousal or compulsion.
3. Silence Is a Valid Outcome
No "unread pressure", no completion metrics, no nudges. A feed with nothing new is not broken. A conversation with no replies is not failed. The system never treats silence as something to fix.
4. Intent Precedes Interpretation
Posts carry intent context, never scored or ranked. Before sharing, users declare what kind of post they are making (e.g., thinking out loud, asking for help). This context shapes how others encounter the post, replacing algorithmic ranking with author-declared framing.
5. Repair Over Punishment
De-escalation by default, editing is normal. The system favors revision over deletion, conversation over moderation, and stepping back over escalation. Editing a post is treated as healthy, not suspicious.
6. No Public Comparative Metrics
No likes, follower counts, view counts, rankings, trending. Nothing in the interface allows users to compare their social standing, popularity, or engagement with others. Metrics that exist internally are never surfaced to users.
7. Human-Scale Social Contexts
Mutual friendships and small circles only. All social connections are reciprocal. Groups (Circles) are small and invitation-based. There are no audiences, followers, or broadcast mechanics.
8. Feed Is a View, Not a Goal
Not a reward surface or attention engine. The feed displays content but never optimizes for time-on-site, engagement, or retention. It is a utility, not a destination.
9. Time Is Not Weaponized
No typing indicators, read receipts, "last seen", FOMO. The system never reveals real-time presence or activity information. Users cannot tell when others are online, typing, or reading. Timestamps exist but are never used to create urgency.
10. Expressive Freedom Is Spatially Contained
Deep customization in HomeRooms only. Users can personalize their HomeRoom extensively (themes, layouts, modules), but shared spaces like the feed maintain a consistent, calm design. Self-expression is enabled without imposing it on others.
11. System Resists Optimization
No easy path to add engagement metrics or profiling. The architecture is designed so that adding tracking, analytics, or engagement optimization would require violating multiple invariants simultaneously. Gaming the system should be structurally difficult.
12. Slowness Is Baked In
Batched loading, explicit refresh, session-bounded views. Content loads in deliberate batches, not streams. Users explicitly choose to load more. Sessions have natural boundaries rather than infinite continuation.
13. Absence Is First-Class
Empty feeds feel complete, not broken. When there is no new content, the interface communicates completeness rather than emptiness. "Nothing new" is a valid, comfortable state -- not an error or a prompt to create content.
14. Privacy Is Infrastructure
Auto-lock, auto-save, systemic protection. Privacy is not a settings page -- it is built into every database query (RLS), every default (least exposure), and every interaction pattern. Data protection happens automatically, not optionally.
15. Non-Interaction Is Valid
System presences can exist without replies. A post can exist in someone's feed without demanding acknowledgment. A friend can be connected without being active. The system never penalizes or flags lack of interaction.
16. AI Never Observes Individuals
No tracking, personalization, retention optimization. AI systems (if present) operate on aggregate patterns or system behavior, never on individual user data. There is no personalization engine, no recommendation system, and no retention targeting.
17. AI Doesn't Compete with Humans
AI models behavior, never argues or persuades. If AI assists in any capacity, it facilitates human connection rather than replacing it. AI never generates content that competes with user expression, and never attempts to persuade or argue with users.
18. Defaults Are Moral Decisions
Least pressure, least exposure, least urgency. Every default setting chooses the option that creates the least social pressure, reveals the least personal information, and generates the least urgency. Users can opt into more, but never less safe defaults.
19. Complexity Must Be Earned
Features appear only when user has context. Advanced features are not hidden but are introduced progressively. A new user sees a simple interface. Complexity emerges as the user builds relationships and engages with the platform over time.
20. Misuse Should Break the System
Invariant violations should feel awkward and cause regressions. If someone tries to use CommonPlace like a traditional social media platform -- chasing metrics, building audiences, optimizing engagement -- the system should feel broken and uncooperative rather than accommodating.
Using Invariants
When proposing any feature or change, ask:
- Does this violate any invariant?
- Could this feature be misused in a way that violates invariants?
- Does this align with the overall philosophy?
If uncertain, err on the side of user wellbeing over engagement.
Last updated: 2026-02-07