The original idea
It started with “Think before you post”. Everyone agrees with it, and almost nobody remembers it at the moment it matters: thumb over the button, caption written, group photo ready.
Look at what actually happens online and the gap is obvious. People get tagged in photos they never agreed to. Friends appear in group shots that go public. Strangers end up in the background of someone else’s post. And by the time anyone notices, the post has already travelled. The people in it never had a meaningful chance to object.
Before it becomes everyone’s business, make sure it’s yours to share.
Reminders don’t fix this. Willpower doesn’t either. What helps is a checkpoint built into the routine: somewhere you put your draft down and get a second look before it goes out.
Tag. Ask. Post.
The name is the method.
Tag
Who is involved? The people you tag, the people you name, the people in the frame.
Ask
Do they know? Does anyone need to approve this before it goes out?
Post
You decide. With the full picture, the choice is yours.
From consent to a full checkpoint
Once you have a moment of pause before posting, it makes sense to use it for more than consent. The same careful look can catch a lot of other things:
- Facts: a claim that needs a source, or a date that doesn’t match what the reporting says.
- Privacy: a house number, a boarding-pass barcode, a stranger’s phone number in a screenshot.
- Context: wording that accidentally accuses someone, or presents a guess as fact.
- Photos: what’s on the screen behind you, and who’s in the background.
T.A.P. is now a standalone pre-publishing assistant for all of these: people, consent, facts, privacy and context. The consent question is still at its heart.
What T.A.P. is not
T.A.P. is not a social network. It’s a checkpoint before a post reaches one. It doesn’t connect to your accounts, doesn’t publish anything, and has no feed, followers or profiles.
It’s not a censor either. It doesn’t block posts or give anything a score, and it never tells you what to think. It isn’t a lawyer, and it can’t give consent on anyone’s behalf. Only the people in your post can do that.
Principles
- Inform, don’t forbid. “Here are a few things worth checking”, never “you can’t post this”.
- Make people think, not feel ashamed. Calm language, no alarms, no red screens for small things.
- Never identify strangers. T.A.P. counts people. It never tries to recognise them.
- Show your sources. Every fact-check source is a real page you can open. No made-up citations, no truth percentages.
- Practise what we preach. Drafts are reviewed, not archived. Here is exactly how.
- Stay neutral. T.A.P. checks claims, consent and privacy, not opinions. It doesn’t take political sides.