9takes- a place of Questions for the Enneagram obsessed

And a place for people to explore their differences and find common ground.

My name is DJ

I am obsessed with the Enneagram and am tired of social media feeling fake.

I have a tech background and am building a platform where people can explore their differences and find common ground.

Views and Goals

Why social media sucks:

Social media isn't living up to what it was supposed to be.

There is no great place to get people's thoughts and opinions anymore. Online conversations can quickly turn toxic. If you make a statement, 5 trolls are waiting for you in the comments, ready to kill the conversation.

It is too risky to be completely honest.

All the people who like you for one reason might not like you for another reason or in another context. We have lost the serendipity, playfulness, and the realness that social media was supposed to bring us. That's why 9takes is here.

Social media's customer is advertisers, not its users.

Social media companies have to optimized all moving parts to maximize revenue. This means that creating a great user experience is secondary to what the advertisers want. What may start out as a social platform quickly turns into an advertisement ridden mess.

The existing platforms provided a rough draft, but it is time for a redo.

Optimize social media, don't cower to in fear of the advertisers opinions

The only opinions that should matter are the user's opinions. 9takes has a way to optimize engagement and honesty while not sacrificing safety and inclusivity.

The social media platforms today have made too many short-term decisions that have paved the way for what not to do.

Why people are divided

Most people are living their life on autopilot.

I got married during a stressful time when I was leaving the military. My wife and I were fighting, and it got to a point where we felt helpless in resolving our conflict. We loved each other, but we could not understand each other. Long story short, my wife convinced me to take a personality test.

I was blown away. The results told me things about myself that I felt deeply but had never put into words. It not only helped me understand my self but it also helped my spouse and I find common ground and resolve our conflict.

It felt like I had been living my life on autopilot, and I finally got a chance to look at who was steering the plane. I felt like I was let in on a secret. I felt like the people who do psychedelics and want everyone to do psychedelics. The problem was finding other people to explore personality further.

If understanding my own personality could help me, how much could it help everyone else?

I wanted to talk more about what I was going through with other people who had similar realizations.

What is 9takes

9takes is a question-and-answer platform based on personality. It is Reddit reimagined based on a personality system called the Enneagram.

There are two twists.

• You can only see answers to questions once you comment. That is so that people are honest and unbiased.
• You are anonymous except for your personality. "Personality" is the perfect context for learning about yourself and others.

These two differences when combined create the structure for having productive conversations online.

The philosophy of 9takes

"Everyone is unique." ✨

We know that everyone is different intellectually, but we don't operate that way. People (not you 😉) get surprised when someone doesn't agree with them. They think "surely if that other person had all the facts, was smart, kind they would agree with your point of view." People forget that other people can have facts, be smart and kind, have similar experiences, AND still disagree.

9takes is about leaning into these disagreements and embracing these differences because, in the end, we all learn something, becoming better 👍 faster ⚡ and stronger 💪.

"Technology" should open us up to new things, not create bubbles where we hear the same perspective repeatedly. 9takes is opening the conversation back up and dishing out fresh takes.

Why the Enneagram?

Enneagram is the secret sauce. It has some deep roots and sits at the crossroads of psychology and philosophy. Plato and Freud would have been fans of the Enneagram. It is used by niche life coaches and as a tool for certain psychologists and therapists. But it is not mainstream and won't be for some time.

We use it because it identifies a person's core motivations and fears. Typically, people figure out their type through being guided or through self-reflection. We are not going to tell you what your "Enneagram type" that is for you to discover.

Why focus on questions and answers?

Because the process of forming and asking a question is a mental unlock. When you are asking questions, you are growing. When you have run out of questions, you stop growing, and you not only run out of answers, you run out of hope.

For example, in your daily life, you may be asking yourself, "Why can't people..."

• do things the right way?
• be more grateful for all the things I do for them?
• appreciate my hard work and success?
• understand my unique perspective and emotions?
• respect my need for privacy and independence?
• be more reliable and trustworthy?
• have more fun and excitement?
• be more honest and dish out the hard truth.
• get along and find common ground?

There are endless questions to ask. Fortunately, there are endless people with answers and perspectives you can learn from. They also have questions like yours and will share if you ask them. Some people see the world like you, and others see a vastly different world.

9takes is about embracing these differences or "takes" on the world. By asking questions, sharing stories, and getting curious, people will be connected to the community around them.