Narrative has exclusively revealed to NEO News Today that it is planning on launching its new “Publications” feature in Summer 2019. Publications can be described as branded channels for organizations or publishers that need to have tight editorial control of their content.

NEO News Today had the chance to catch up with Rosemary and Ted O’Neill, Narrative founders and co-CEOs, to discuss details of the upcoming feature.

About Publications

Narrative describes itself as “the world’s journal,” and currently allows users to post articles to their personal journal or community moderated topics called “Niches.” Anyone can post content to Niches, which are moderated to ensure content stays on topic, but are not curated.

Publications on the other hand are privately controlled and owner-curated pages. Publications are more suited to a business, entity, or author looking to create their own blog or magazine. Owners will have the ability to set admin, editor, and writer permissions for other Narrative users who wish to contribute to the Publication.

T. O’Neill cited Narrative itself as one example of an organization that will benefit from the new Publications feature, as it is currently using a work-around to publish corporate content on the Narrative network:

We have our own corporate blog on Narrative currently, but it’s been a bit of hack because we are using one “personal” account. We are looking forward to moving that content to its own Publication, so each of us that posts can post under our own names and not a generic “Narrative HQ” account.

Features of Publications

Publications are intended to provide an alternative to branded channels such as Medium, Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon. Narrative will offer custom domain support, allowing owners to use their own domain as the URL for their Publication. Other basic page customization options will include the ability to set a logo and page header, although Narrative noted it may explore expanding design customization options in the future.

Content posted to Publications is eligible to earn Content Creator rewards, which is 60% of the total rewards pool. However, the content has to be associated with at least one Niche.

“That requirement exists because Niches are critical to content discovery in Narrative.” T. O’Neill said. “This benefits the content creator, as well, in that the more ways your content can be discovered, the better.” 

Fees

Owning a Publication will be subject to an annual fee that Narrative believes is “quite affordable.” Two pricing plans will be available upon the launch of the Publications feature: basic and business.

A basic Publication channel allows for five content creators and two editors, running at US $125 annually.

A business Publication channel allows for up to 30 content creators, 10 editors, and offers the ability to host a custom domain. This package will cost US $299 annually.

Publications can be purchased using NRVE tokens based on its current exchange rate, although a USD payment will also be available with an additional premium. Interested users will be able to take advantage of a free 14-day trial period before committing to the annual fee.

Governance and Censorship Resistance

Publications will be subject to the existent community based governance model and Acceptable Use Policy.

Narrative’s governance principles aim to diverge from those of traditional social media policies by placing moderation responsibilities into the hands of the Narrative users. The community must review and approve new Niches via a vote, while an elected Tribunal system oversees disputes and appeals.

Publications, on the other hand, can go live immediately upon purchase. However, if a community member believes a Publication violates the Narrative Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policy, community members can file an appeal to the Tribunal for removal. O’Neill said:

Content posted to a Publication is also subject to review for AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) violations. That process works the same as any other content on Narrative. Community members may file appeals. Currently, the Tribunal reviews all such appeals, but in the future, the community will review all such appeals themselves via an AUP Review Queue that requires a high percentage of votes to actually remove the content. Only High Reputation users will be able to vote on AUP Review appeals, as well. The goal is make sure that content removal is rare and will require a strong majority of community opinion.

The overall goal is create a platform that reflects the values of its community and is resistant to corporate censorship. R. O’Neill states, “because Narrative does not sell member data, there is never a conflict of interest between Narrative Company and the members and Publications on the network.”

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