How TAO Is Building the Future of Social Media (Podcast Interview)
Chiara’s conversation with Michael the Chairman, a sit-down stand-up comedian on a mission to make the world better through laughter, love, and radical systems change.
Michael the Chairman isn’t your average podcast host. At 26, he’s survived more near death experiences than most people have dentist appointments. Born with Marfan syndrome and legally blind for much of his life, he’s faced a staggering amount of adversity…and turned it into fuel for comedy, creativity, and compassion.
He calls himself a sit-down stand-up comedian with a dark sense of humor (his words: “but much like my past self... I don’t see it”) and a deep sense of purpose. Michael wants to build systems that uplift the overlooked. And he’s just getting started.
We talked about everything from decentralized governance to the global shift in paradigm that’s unfolding; from censorship and the dream of digital commons to supernatural experiences and life after death. Michael asked sharp questions, cracked clever jokes, and genuinely got the mission of TAO Social: to build a platform that’s for the people, by the people, with the people.
If you’ve ever wondered what it means to build a social media platform that can’t be sold to the highest bidder…one that’s immune to corporate capture and algorithmic decay…one where power actually flows to the people who use it—this one’s for you.
Watch the full video above, or get the Cliffnotes below!
Table of Contents
A New Paradigm: From Extraction to Interdependence
TAO isn't just a social media platform. It’s an experiment in what the future could look like if we stop building from the same broken blueprint.
We talked about:
The shift from top-down control to community-driven ecosystems
Why the extractive model of wealth is collapsing
How our generation is hungry for tools that prioritize cooperation over conquest
The rise of a "community wealth" movement emerging on TikTok and beyond
In short, it’s not just left versus right anymore. It’s all of us versus the old system.
What Makes TAO Structurally Unfuckwithable
Most platforms can be sold off, co-opted, or corrupted. TAO is designed to resist all three.
Key design choices include:
DAO structure: Every user gets a soulbound token—non-transferable and one per person
No equity: There are no shareholders or VC firms with controlling interests
Wyoming DAO LLC: Legally structured for flexibility while blocking traditional ownership
Collective governance: The direction of the platform is decided by users, not executives (once the platform is stable)
This makes it very hard for bad actors to seize control or for the platform to be bought out.
Circulating Wealth, Not Extracting It
TAO is not built for private profit. It’s built for shared value.
Here's how that works:
No shareholders taking a cut from user activity
No venture capital payout driving decisions
Revenue generated by the platform is reinvested into the ecosystem
Creators and users both benefit from the value they help generate
This allows TAO to operate more like a digital commons than a corporate product.
Ads That Don’t Ruin the Experience
TAO doesn’t promise a world without ads. It promises a world without garbage ads ;p
We discussed:
Letting users opt into the kinds of ads they actually want to see
Prioritizing small businesses, ethical brands, and local commerce
Giving creators more control over what gets shown to their audiences
Using advertising to strengthen microeconomies rather than exploit attention
When done right, advertising can be a tool for community empowerment, not disruption!
Free Speech and Community Standards
TAO supports freedom of expression but it also supports healthy boundaries.
Key ideas around moderation:
Rejecting censorship while still maintaining shared values
Building community-led moderation systems that reflect user input
Preventing top-down suppression without enabling toxic chaos
Encouraging thoughtful discussion, not echo chambers or flame wars
It’s not about silencing people. It’s about giving the community the power to shape its culture.
About Michael the Chairman
Michael the Chairman is a 26-year-old sit-down stand-up comedian with a mission bigger than punchlines. Born with Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that has affected his heart, spine, joints, and vision, Michael has spent much of his life navigating hospitals, surgeries, and the kind of adversity most people can’t imagine.
Legally blind for most of his youth and using a wheelchair since birth, Michael turned pain into purpose and embraced comedy as a vehicle for healing and truth. His humor is often dark—he says he doesn’t see it, much like his past self—but it’s always rooted in love.
Bullied in school and underestimated by the world, he chose laughter as his weapon of choice and storytelling as his craft. His goal is simple but profound: to take the suffering, absurdity, and duality of life and shine light through it, helping others find meaning in what they might have missed.
Michael believes that God has a dark sense of humor—and that laughter can be sacred. He plans to use every bit of power, money, and influence he earns in his lifetime to serve those who are overlooked, unheard, or unseen. His nightly prayer is to be guided toward those no one else can hear crying for help.
Above all, he is committed to building a better world.
See more from Michael:
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