THE DTI STORY
I grew up trying to be intentional with my time. Minimalism, discipline, focus. Then I got on social media and realized how deliberately it was designed to steal that intention from me. I tried quitting. Took weeks off. The benefits were clear — less anxiety, more clarity. But I always came back because I didn't want to disconnect from the world. I just wanted a healthier way to stay connected.
Last September, the assassination of Charlie Kirk happened near my home in Utah. I watched what followed — the division, the anger, the arguments between family members online. I saw from the outside how social media wasn't just reflecting our divisions. It was amplifying them, rewarding the most outrageous voices, turning disinformation into engagement metrics. I turned everything off for a week. No phone, no TV, no car radio. Just silence.
When I came back online, I realized the problem wasn't division itself — healthy disagreement makes society stronger. The problem was profitable division. When companies make money by making people angry, by sensationalizing truth, by optimizing for watch time instead of accuracy — that's when the system breaks. I'd been making good money at my job. But money wasn't the point anymore. I'd rather build something that matters than accumulate something that doesn't.
So I started Democratize The Internet. Because if Big Tech stopped innovating the moment they became profitable, then nonprofits should compete. Either force them to innovate or give people a better, cheaper, more humane alternative. Either way, the world changes.
Right now it's just me. But I'm looking for people who believe what I believe — that these giants aren't inevitable, that smaller teams can reshape the world, that we don't have to accept exploitation as the price of connection.
If that resonates, let's talk.