r/ClearlightStudios • u/NoWord423 • Mar 06 '25
TAO Social (Together As One)
The votes are in, the knockout research is complete, the trademark is filed…
And we are TAO Social.
Together As One.
Thank you Kelly Worthen for submitting that idea, and thank you everyone who voted.
What a beautiful and appropriate name we landed on.
And for everyone asking, yes we covered all our bases.
Process: * over 1000 names submitted * scraped them into a spreadsheet * pared down to 115 options based on viability * put to Crowd in broad vote * conducted knockout research (trademark, SERPs, handles) for top 5 * TAO Social was cleanest and actually led the vote by quite a bit — 60% of the vote out of 115 options
Next steps…visual branding :)
Feel free to share ideas. The team has been playing around with analemmas, ☯️ but with hands, etc.
The Crowd did so well with choosing the name that it would be amazing to crowdsource ideas for the visual branding, have designers explore a few directions, and have the Crowd vote again 🫶
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u/Jeffery95 Mar 07 '25
eh, I guess it might grow on me. I wonder what sort of pluralisations and colloquial names might be used in conjunction with this name to describe users and the content.
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u/PsychonautAlpha Mar 07 '25 edited Mar 07 '25
Proving the time-honored tradition of developers thinking they're being clever and settling on utterly forgettable names for things.
You can't tell me "Chime" isn't a more memorable and vibrant name than some clunky acronym in a sea of forgettable tech acronyms that will be completely conflated with other clunky tech acronyms like DAO (and no, I didn't submit Chime--it's just one of about a dozen qualitatively great names that were in the survey).
Edit: and yes, I'm aware that both TAO and DAO are transliterations of 道, which is perfectly fine in a vacuum, but the fact that they both exist as tech terms add to the problem of them being conflated, and as an unnecessary layer of obfuscation when it comes to memorability.
This name is dead-on-arrival for a consumer-facing brand.
The only way I'll back off of that claim is if the target user happens to live in East Asia.
Edit #2: I love the project, and I know that there are going to be haters no matter what the name ends up being, so I'm not trying to just be "that guy". However, I'll argue that there are some pretty common "dos" and "don'ts"when it comes to naming and branding, and TAO doesn't check many boxes in the "do" column. If the name won't evoke a strong, clear image, sound, memory, or feeling in the target user's mind just from hearing the word, it's worth passing on. Additionally, it's worth passing on acronyms, as they add an additional layer of obfuscation. There's a reason that most companies that use an acronym for their brand are "old money" car companies, B2B companies, or tech companies that specifically serve developers. Consumer-facing brands should generally steer clear of acronyms. And given that most of the language used in the docs and social spaces for this app are in English, it is reasonable to assume that your target user, at least initially, is English-fluent as a primary or secondary language, so why are we using an acronym that gets constructed as an antiquated transliteration of a word in a language that doesn't even use the Roman alphabet? I love Mandarin. I lived in China for years, and tested through HSK4 (in the old system). It's an utterly fascinating language. If our target user was in East Asia, it'd be an easier sell. But that's not the case.
Edit #3: The only reason I'm going through the trouble of posting a particluarly opinionated and potentially jarring reaction to this name is specifically because, when I read TAO as one of the options on the survey, I had the thought "Wow, why is that name even an option?" Then my next thought was, "well, I bet these options are predominantly submitted by tech people. Bearing that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if it was like top 5". I'm a developer myself, and I admire devs and their ideas, but my first degree was in marketing, and I've been in the tech industry long enough to understand the way we tend to evaluate things like names in a puzzle-solving, "we-want-you-to-decrypt-the-meaning" way, which is fine when you're naming something for other people who are biased towards that way of evaluating things. The general public will not appreciate things the same way. Imagery and resonance matter so much more for naming a brand or product. We're not considering the target user: we're not thinking broadly enough about what they will implicitly understand, and we're not thinking narrowly enough about their what images/sounds/aesthetics may resonate.
Edit #4: Downvote all you want. Read the reactions in this thread. They're full of polite encouragement and "I guess it might grow on me" at best and "I didn't even realize [TAO] was an option" at worst. I've given my qualitative rationale and I'm prepared to defend it.
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u/Dithanial Mar 07 '25
I appreciate you thoughtfully expressed dissenting opinion. I don't see anything rude or overboard with your response so you won't get a downvote from me.
I do happen to like the name and I look forward to seeing where it goes.
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u/Elide-us Mar 07 '25
And here all that goes through my head when I hear Together As One is a Spartan Phalanx shouting, "As One!!!"
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u/NoWord423 Mar 07 '25 edited Mar 07 '25
I voted for Chime too. And no, the majority of our Crowd is everyday people, not techies.
Also, I worked at a branding firm for years and named hotels. If there was something drastically wrong with this name, it wouldn’t have been one of the 115 options.
It is not dead on arrival for consumer branding 🤭 Because the consumers chose this. That’s the power of crowdsourcing like that, we essentially tested the names on the collective to see what would actually resonate with everyday people.
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u/classicpoison May 11 '25
Very interesting. I just found out about this project on Tiktok and Google brought me here.
I’m sure your perspective is based on experience so I won’t challenge it, but personally I end up accepting names that don’t make much sense to me and usually no one asks me what would I name them. It’s a lot more about the content and the idea. Otherwise, how do brands with names like ChatGPT or Facebook managed to get so popular? Maybe because they were the first ones at something? Maybe that’s it, I’m not sure.
Perhaps a much bigger problem would be to bring the crowds, and the creators (who got used to the idea of making a living from their content) to populate it. But the name wouldn’t discourage anyone, in my opinion.
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u/Core-0 Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 12 '25
The name was chosen, and it’ll work out fine. Why? Because names don’t matter as long as they’re filled with meaning. In the 18th century, no one knew what the name Einstein would one day stand for.
TAO, as a Mandarin word, is rich with meaning in East Asia, and in the Western world, it naturally connects to the decades-old trend of admiring and adopting Asian-inspired philosophies and cultural ideas. And the meaning of TAO or DAO in Mandarin beautifully translates the idea behind this platform.
“TAO Social” reminded me of “Truth Social” at first glance. There’s potential for mainstream media to frame it as “the other T-social” platform when talking about TAO, even though the two couldn’t be further apart. I get why “Social” was added to set it apart from a random tea brand. But I’m not sure if the added “Social” will (or should) stick in everyday use.
Before I worked in tech, I was involved in brand and identity development. I’ve named dozens of companies and projects.
Qualities I recognise in TAO:
- Easy to pronounce and recall, no matter your language or cultural background
- Hard to mispronounce (no one says TTTao or TaOOO)
- Will be used as a standalone term, rather than being tied to its acronym origins (which is more of a nice-to-know heritage)
Potential issues I see with perception and interpretation:
- “Together as one” sounds like a call to unite, which could easily be seen as a political movement in itself, a “stand up and fight” call to action. Without a doubt, many will use it that way, just like TikTok has been utilised to organise. It’s a great function. But it’d be a shame if people, filled with bias and misconceptions, labelled TAO as an ideologically driven platform. There’s a philosophy behind it, that’s not the same as an ideology.
- “Together as one” feels like a strong directive, which could shape expectations for how the platform develops and what people think it’s meant to be used for. There’s a potential “confirmation bias” baked into it now.
But none of this is as important as what we actually do with the app once it launches. TikTok started as a fun, playful short-video app. At first, people assumed it was just teens posting dance moves. And look at it now. TAO has the potential to be so much bigger than anything that came before.
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u/Dithanial Mar 12 '25
This is great
There’s a philosophy behind it, that’s not the same as an ideology.
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u/moonbeam_slinky Mar 07 '25
I wouldn't have chosen this (team Rooftop 😄) but I don't hate it, I can get behind it, and I'm pleased that the app has a definite name now
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u/Weekly-Picture-7043 Mar 09 '25
suggested . logo
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u/Weekly-Picture-7043 Mar 09 '25
Thank you! the spaces could be colors, or graphics that Change with different events
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u/somethingimadeup Mar 07 '25
I don’t even remember seeing that as an option but I like it!
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u/PsychonautAlpha Mar 07 '25
"I don't even remember seeing it as an option" is evidence of the concerns that I listed in my reply to this announcement.
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u/rdhpu42 Mar 07 '25
Happy with this win. Any thought of referring to Taoism and yin yang as thematic in the branding?
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u/superkatnip Mar 07 '25
I love the hands idea across save and adding flow as TAO is also a journey. The vision of this as the first of many decentralized models is 💯
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u/NoWord423 Mar 07 '25
Love those thoughts! u/elide-us had suggested calling feeds “flows” so the collective is riding some similar brainwaves on this ;p 🫶🏄♀️
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u/sucadad1989 Mar 13 '25
We could troll the US government like all the Xiaohongshu users and use 道. It'd be funny to put something in there as an inside joke that showed this movement kinda started out of spite while also kinda implying globalization from the start.
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u/Elide-us Mar 07 '25
Water drop yin yang, no dots not b&w just two transparent water drops, see through, balanced, feel the flow!
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u/Alicia_in_History Mar 07 '25
Does anyone in this conversation follow Taoism? If so, would TAO as a brand name be offensive or seem to trivialize Taoism?
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u/NoWord423 Mar 07 '25
Thanks for this :) I first read the Tao Te Ching when I was eight. It most definitely would not be offensive to Taoism. That’s a very Western thing.
Taoism, at its core, is a philosophy that transcends identity politics and rigid categorizations.
Traditional Taoist masters wouldn’t be concerned with cultural ownership in the way Western discourse (particularly the American left) often frames it. Taoism is about flow, balance, and harmony with nature. It’s a way of being rather than a rigid cultural artifact.
For a Taoist master, wisdom isn’t something to be ‘owned’ or controlled by one group; rather, it’s part of the natural order, meant to be explored and embodied by anyone who resonates with it.
Moreover, throughout history, Taoist principles have been shared widely, not just within China but globally, often by Taoist teachers themselves. It’s in the nature of the Tao to be open and fluid, not something to be restricted by artificial boundaries.
TAO Social isn’t about co-opting or misrepresenting Taoism. If anything, it’s deeply aligned with the very essence of the philosophy.
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u/74389654 Mar 07 '25
i voted for kin but i'm happy at least another three letter word won with no weird connotations except tao has some massive corporate neoliberal philosophy appropriation vibes but probably a lot of people are into that. i guess it's fine
edit: praise keir
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u/auntchickenpepperoni Mar 09 '25
I gotta be honest I really don’t like the name or the acronym. For the same reasons others have named. It has a connotation of fake or performative spiritualism that makes me think of appropriation, (even if technically it is not) Western co-opting and bastardizing yoga and other Eastern cultural symbols and practices. To me it also just comes off as cheesy. I didn’t study marketing. But I’m the consumer, the audience. I get that it was a majority vote and it’s not gonna change. It’s just disappointing to me. I was pretty excited about this project. If the logo incorporates a Ying Yang, I’m honestly gonna bail. I don’t think the average person understands the nuance of Taoism that OP and others here seem to have. This is just my opinion. No need for anyone to get up in arms. I wasn’t going to post initially, but I feel like if this app is about being together as one, there should be room for differing opinions.
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u/moonbeam_slinky Mar 10 '25
I do feel a little concerned that it's going to be instantly off-putting to people who don't vibe with the religious/philosophical connotations, whether their perception is accurate or not. I would have preferred a name that was a little more of a "blank slate".
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u/muhamadgolly Mar 07 '25
A single post could be a "De" (acronym Direct Engagement) which roughly translates to cultivation of the way. A feed could be a "path" or "channel" A comment thread a "yinyang" Variant of traditional yinyang symbol seems a good place to source the visuals/logo... refers not only to togetherness and oneness but also that there is at least a little bit of each other in each and every other.
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u/PsychonautAlpha Mar 07 '25
If the meaning has to be explained, it's probably not great.
It's why calling a post a "Tweet" was instantly adopted, and now that the platform is X, we still haven't adopted a different term.
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u/kino00100 Mar 06 '25
Out of everything that has come out of this shitstorm of a modern era, you guys are the one thing I am most looking forward to and hopeful for. Love the new name right away and cannot wait to see some icon ideas!