Introducing Prism

A connection layer for the open web

In my previous two articles, I discussed how the web became disconnected and argued that the URL, rather than the platform, should once again become the primary organising principle of the internet. The web already has a universal way of identifying information: every webpage has an address. What it has never had is a universal way to connect people, ideas and conversations to the webpages they relate to.

That idea led us to Prism.

Prism is a connection layer for the open web. Its purpose is to connect people through the ideas, interests and webpages they care about, without requiring those connections to live inside another closed platform.

The web transformed the world by making information universally accessible. But finding information is only part of what makes the web valuable. The other part is finding the people who understand it, question it, care about it or are trying to solve the same problems.

Today, those people are scattered. They may be discussing the same research, following the same sport, comparing the same products, exploring the same technology or thinking about the same problem, but their conversations are fragmented across social networks, messaging groups, forums and individual websites.

Prism is designed to connect them through the web itself.

A new way to discover the web

Prism allows people to discover and follow the subjects, ideas and contributors that matter to them. Unlike a conventional feed, it is not limited to content created within a single platform. It is built around webpages and URLs from across the open web.

A contribution in Prism can begin with something that already exists online: an article, research paper, video, product, dataset or any other webpage. People can share it, discuss it, add context, connect it to related material and help others understand why it matters.

The original source remains central. Instead of stripping an idea from its context and turning it into an isolated post, Prism preserves the connection between the contribution and the webpage it concerns.

That changes discovery. Prism might introduce you to a new paper related to research you follow, an insightful contribution on a subject that interests you, a discussion around a product you are considering or a person who consistently contributes useful knowledge about something you care about.

The connection begins with a shared interest, rather than membership of the same platform. Prism therefore becomes a way to discover people, ideas and activity from across the web while keeping everything connected to its original source.

Connecting people through interests

The web is extraordinarily good at helping people find information. It is much less effective at helping them find the other people who care about the same things.

Prism topics provide one way to do that. A topic brings together relevant webpages, discussions, contributors and ideas around a subject, allowing people to follow not only other people but the subjects themselves.

A topic on artificial intelligence and healthcare, for example, might bring together research, regulation, clinical evidence, companies, criticism and practical experience, alongside researchers, clinicians, founders, policymakers and others interested in the field.

The same idea can apply to almost anything: a technology, sport, company, scientific question, political issue, hobby, product category or emerging event. These are not simply hashtags or temporary streams of posts. They can become persistent places where people interested in the same subject discover information and one another.

That creates the possibility of communities organised around interests rather than platforms.

The URL as the foundation

Beneath all of this sits the URL.

Every article, video, paper, product and webpage already has a unique address. Prism uses that structure as a common reference point around which people, conversations and ideas can connect.

A post inside a social network belongs primarily to that network. A URL belongs to the web.

That distinction matters. A research paper from a major university, a video from an independent creator, an article from a newspaper and a personal blog all exist on equal terms as URLs.

Prism does not require them to be republished inside its own system before people can engage with them. The web remains where it is. Prism adds and maintains the connections.

Prism alongside the page

Prism can work directly alongside the web as you browse. While viewing a webpage, you can open Prism alongside it and see the conversation and context connected to that specific page.

You can see what other people think, contribute your own perspective, reply to others, share related material and rate the page without leaving what you were reading. The page stays visible while the conversation sits alongside it. 

The sidebar is only one way to access the wider network of connected webpages, topics, people and ideas. Prism’s web application, and over time its other apps, will provide different ways to navigate the same connected system.

Beyond a single application

Prism is not being designed around a single interface. It is being built as a family of connected experiences through which people can access the same underlying network of webpages, topics, conversations and people.

Prism might be used through its web application, alongside a webpage via the browser extension or, in time, through dedicated apps on phones, tablets and other devices. The interfaces may change and grow, but the underlying connections remain fundamental.

Prism can therefore be a destination for discovery and exploration while also appearing alongside the wider web when it is useful. It does not need to replace the web to make the web more connected. That is the point.

Publishers continue to publish. Researchers continue to produce research. Businesses operate their own websites. Writers and creators remain independent. Prism connects the people, ideas and activity developing around their work on the web. The webpage stays at the centre.

The original web connected documents. I believe we can now do something more ambitious: connect the people and knowledge surrounding those documents as well.

That is what we are building with Prism.

Not another closed platform. A connection layer for the open web.

About Prism

Prism is a connection layer for the open web. It connects people, ideas, topics and webpages in an open layer of conversation, context and discovery.

Rather than moving the web into another closed platform, Prism strengthens the web that already exists.

Connecting people, ideas and the web.

Learn more and sign up for early access at prismgo.com.