Spheres
Communities where people meet by subject and by place before there is a match — context comes first, and the conversation starts with a reason.
Three types
Beyond the type, a sphere has a category and a geographic reach: there are world, country, state and city spheres. Subject and place are different things, and a sphere may combine the two.
- Public — anyone can join.
- Restricted — entry is controlled.
- Private — closed.
Joining is opening
There is no separate sign-up step: opening a sphere's conversation is what records your participation in it. That is why the screen shows when you are already a member — participation stopped happening silently.
Who sees your name and your photo
In a sphere's participant list, name and photo ALWAYS travel together: either both appear, or neither does. They only appear if your profile is public.
Masking only the name would be theater — a face identifies more than a first name does. Whoever is anonymous appears by a stable identifier, with no photo.
When the system cannot read your profile, it treats you as anonymous. The degraded state shows LESS identity, never more.
Features per sphere
A sphere may have extra features turned on by its administration — voice room, ephemeral rooms, direct messages, active questions, among others. They all start off, so what exists in one sphere is not necessarily what exists in another.