Frequently Asked Questions

What is SeyWut?

SeyWut is a social web site with a primary focus of freedom of speech, privacy and the security of its registered users. To forward these goals SeyWut implements a number of different techniques and ideologies. For freedom of speech, any speech which is not illegal under any and all United States Federal Government and individual state statues is allowed. All requests from foreign governments will not be processed. For privacy, the site does not maintain any sort of server logs or store IP Addresses in a database. We also do not access or connect to any entities from outside the SeyWut.com domain. For security, user passwords are created using the PHP password_hash() function with the default salt.

Is my password safe?

The password hashing function in PHP is highly secure and uses a slow hashing method to severely limit brute force decrypting. The many stories of hackers stealing password databases often reveals user passwords being stored and plain text or using fast easily decrypted hashing algorithms. SeyWut uses to most recent and secure option available to ensure your password is safe.

Does SeyWut keep server logs?

While there are some downsides for the web site, the benefits for our users makes it a necessity. Server logs are a primary source of information for law enforcement agencies and those filling lawsuits. For all law enforcement agencies reading this answer; Don't bother placing requests for information as we will have no information to provide other than what is already publicly available. Of course, we will always fully comply with valid legal requests it's just that we won't have anything to offer.

How does SeyWut make money?

While advertising may be a necessary evil in order to offer free services, steps can be taken to limit its reach and impact on the user. SeyWut runs exactly two ads. One is located on the main page and fills the spot where the user image normally sits while the second is found below the listen button on the profile page. There are currently no plans to ever include additional advertising is any form. No sponsored posts, no co-branding arrangements and no user tracking and monetization.

Where are my e-mails from SeyWut?

To maintain annonimity and security no e-mails are sent from SeyWut. Most user accounts are compromised through social engineering attacks which use e-mails to reset social media passwords. To limit user exposure to this attack vector we don't send any emails. Since no two active email addresses will be the same it is used as a unique identifier for user accounts. Also, if a users prupose is to remain annonymous while posting online, logging in to an e-mail acount to view SeyWut e-mails may allow the provider, which is leagally required to assist law enforcement, to provide meta data and other information during an investigation.

How does the front page work?

The entire site will work with Javascript disabled. One nice feature though is that the front page has a 5 second refresh to display the 100 most recent posts made by verified users.This is specifically meant to facilitate user discovery. Just make your web browser full screen, sit back and let the stream of posts wash over you.

Why can't I edit or delete my posts?

This decision was debated for a very long time during development. After lengthy discussion, it was determined that the benefits of an inability to delete posts far outweighed the detriments. There really is no upside to being able to delete or edit posts. If you are a person or company of any note whatsoever your post will have been screen captured and republished extensively prior to deletion anyways so what's the point. Permanence also encourages some modicum of self restraint and conscious thought before posting. Much like e-mail, if you wouldn't say it to your mom then don't say it online. Finally, frankly it's quite pathetic to post something and then edit or delete it because of unexpected heat. Not enough individuals and organizations take personal responsibility for their actions. Own you mistakes, apologize and move on.

Aren't web cookies bad?

Web site cookies have had their image tarnished due to morally and ethically questionable companies. Generally speaking, a web cookie is just a tool to accomplish a goal. How cookies are used determines the character of a web site. SeyWut uses exactly one cookie. It is used to store a users encrypted password and username. The cookie is only created if a user wants the site to remember their log in information so they don't get repeatedly logged out when their session ends. When a user clicks the log out link the cookie is deleted.

Does SeyWut track users?

User tracking and monetization has meant users of web sites essentially sell their souls to the devil, e.g. Google, Facebook and Twitter among others, for "free" services. It is not an exaggeration to say users of these sites have zero privacy and are tracked every single place they go on the Internet. SeyWut prides itself on conducting zero user tracking and monetization. We literally no nothing about you other than the voluntary information you provide in the settings area of your account and your public posts. We do not uses tracking cookies. We do not use Javascript social buttons tied to your IP Address. We do not use web analytics software to track browsing habits. Nothing.

Why is the username I want is already taken?

I have a plan. Maybe it's a good plan or maybe it's a bad plan. I remember conducting a search for LeBron James on Twitter and a kid with a dozen followers came up and I was like WTF. Or some journalist with the Twitter handle "Dan" because he just happened to lock it down first; the whole first come first serve basis... frankly that's bullshit. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to get a great first name handle even if they wait until after a site gets big. That said. I imported CSVs of all first and last names and it created about 90,000 records. The idea is to at some point raffle or lottery or sweepstakes (or whichever term denotes free) them off. For example, every hour the front page will say "Name Raffle" with a name and some number of people will enter (somehow, I don't know yet) and then after sixty minutes a random winner will be selected and a new name will be randomly selected from the database. This way everyone everywhere gets the same opportunity. On a side note, all trademarked brands and names will be turned over to their legal owner. Celebrities, musicians and athletes often register their names so if someone pulls a LeBron and then The King wants the username and he has a registered trademark he will get the username.

Can I post images of my food/pet/child/car/self?

The question is also the answer. If you're a narcissist there's Instagram. If you love food there's Pintrest. For everyone else wishing to share their derivative images of daily life feel free to keep using Facebook and Twitter. The ubiquity of cell phone cameras and simplicity of point, shoot and post over sharing has resulted in a tsunami of digital visual noise. SeyWut is a text only site focusing on thoughts, insights, opinions and other forms of written discourse. A picture may be worth a thousand words but that doesn't mean much if they're all blah blah blah.

Are new accounts verified?

This was a tough one that very well may change in the future. There would be no account verification without the existence of spammers. Given that SeyWut users are unable to contact each other there is really no reason to create spam accounts. The no verification decision is mainly for protecting user anonymity. Most people don't use VPNs so if a new user is required to use an working email account to verify they aren't a spammer or bot they could expose their personal information. All law enforcement would have to do is get the valid user e-mail address from SeyWut and then go to the email provider to get the IP Address and other data. While we do require a valid working e-mail address it is NOT currently used for verification.

Can non-verified users upload a user image?

For now, the unfortunate answer is no. Due to the lack of server logs and the anonymous nature of the service, we are unable to prevent or limit bad actors for using the site. There are very sick individuals who upload animal torture and child porn images to social services and we currently have no way to screen and eliminate images prior to uploading. The only way to pro-actively combat this is to verify user accounts on a one by one basis for athletes, musicians etc. Given their high profile they are significantly less likely to upload inappropriate images. In the future we would like to incorporate a API to screen images against a global registry to filter images before uploading to the server.

Can I contact other SeyWut users?

This was also heavily debated and again the lack of inter-account contact was less important than preventing harassment and personal attacks. SeyWut truly is a digital soap box. Some social services make the same claim but it is simply disengious marketing. A true soap box has one person in a park or town square shouting to the world with next to no interacting with the public. SeyWut is for those wanting to express themselves without fear of retaliation or attack. For individuals or organizations wanting to interact with the public there are many other popular services available for free.

Is there a DMCA page?

Links to or reproduction of copyrighted material will be deleted upon receiving proper notification via a DMCA take down request. The DMCA page contains all relevant information and guidelines to facilitate a take down as necessary.