We applied for .socialmedia
On identity, ownership, and the one string that describes what half the internet actually does.
The case, in a paragraph.
ICANN opened its first general window for new top-level domains since 2012, and closed it on 12 August 2026. We applied for .socialmedia because it names a permanent human behaviour in a phrase the whole world already understands; because a handle is a tenancy and a domain is the one identifier a person can actually own; because it serves creators and brands without the two colliding; and because the open social protocols are converging on domain names as the identity primitive anyway. The nine chapters below take that apart one claim at a time — with the numbers, the objections and the parts we cannot date.
Nine chapters.
Each stands on its own and links to the next. Read them in order, or go straight to the one you came for.
The Window
Why nowICANN's first general window since 2012 closed on 12 August 2026. Why we applied, and what we are and are not promising.
Read Chapter 02The Namespace
What it's forAround 5.4 billion users, close to seven platforms each, a creator economy above $200B — the numbers, with their sources.
Read Chapter 03Tenancy
The handle problemFour things you cannot do with a handle, and the one identifier on the internet a person can actually own.
Read Chapter 04Why This String
The shortlistFour criteria over a twenty-year horizon: self-explanatory, permanent, two buyers, and the DNS already the identity anchor.
Read Chapter 05The Value
What you getEight things a .socialmedia name gives the person who registers it, from an address that outlives platforms to email on your name.
Read Chapter 06The Hub
my.socialmediaName it, prompt it, share it, grow it: the hub, Super Follow, what the registration includes and what it is expected to cost.
Read Chapter 07Questions
Two objectionsEleven characters is a long extension, and are new extensions trusted? Both taken seriously.
Read Chapter 08Track Record
Not our firstOperators of .Best since 2018: 60,000+ domains, 300+ registrars, and the commitments we bring to .socialmedia.
Read Chapter 09Timeline
The long clockFiling, evaluation, objections and contention, delegation — the process as it actually runs, and the parts we cannot date.
Read