What Rorshok is Doing Right Now

Ourzines

If you want to distribute something you've written, your choices aren't great. You can put it on oligarchic social media, post it on the internet where it becomes just another link, print it on ordinary paper, or try to get it published. Ourzines offer something in between. They're small, beautiful, portable booklets, something like a chapbook or a zine, that you can design yourself, with text and images laid out however you like. They fit in your back pocket, take about an hour to read, and turn something you've written or want to read or distribute into a physical object people might actually want to keep.

Rorshokitos

If you want to bring people together to form a community, how do you do it? Parties, meetings, networking events, and conferences all have their disadvantages. You want people to meet as equals, feel comfortable, and participate regardless of their personalities, ages, backgrounds, or levels of commitment to whatever it is they share. Rorshokitos are a fun, structured way to make that happen in as little as half a day. People have interesting conversations, meet people they might not otherwise meet, and begin forming the relationships from which a community can grow.

Chat Task

When a community starts, its members need a way to communicate. Usually somebody sets up an email list, WhatsApp group, Discord server, Facebook group, Telegram channel, Signal group. But all of these have significant disadvantages, especially as a community grows. Chat Task is a free alternative built around threaded conversations. People can follow discussions that interest them, participate when they want, and stay connected without being overwhelmed by endless notifications. No ads, portable data. The idea is to make communication easier and less demanding, so that staying involved in a community doesn't become another job.

Updates

Updates are short, weekly audio podcasts in English about what's happening in three different countries, Argentina, Georgia, and Spain. Rather than trying to cover everything, they focus on the things that matter to people living in those communities. The idea is to help people understand what's happening around them, feel connected to the place where they live, and have something interesting to talk about with their neighbors. They're a simple way to build a shared sense of place and make it easier for people to come together.

Fair Pick

Small groups make decisions all the time, and it's surprising how difficult that can be. Where should we go for dinner? What book should our book club read? What movie should the family watch? Fair Pick is designed to be the easiest, fairest, and most enjoyable way for a small group to decide together. Instead of endless discussions, awkward compromises, or one person always getting their way, everybody participates in a simple, fun process that produces a decision people can live with. It saves time, avoids arguments, and makes deciding together part of the fun.

Book Discussions in Libraries

Libraries are full of books and people who love reading, but it's not always easy to find somebody to discuss a book with. We want to build a simple way for strangers to meet in libraries for enjoyable, safe, informal conversations about books they want to talk about. People indicate which books or kinds of books interest them, where they could meet, and when they're available. They get a little anonymous preview of others who share their interests, and then they meet. No complicated organization, no permanent commitment, and no need to join an existing book club. Just people getting together to talk about books.

A Game

We want to make a game. We're not going to tell you what it's about yet, except that it will be incredibly fun. But there's one unusual thing about it: before you start playing, you'll decide how long you want to play. When that time is up, you won't be able to play again for a while. Most games are designed to keep you playing for as long as possible. We want to do the opposite: make something genuinely enjoyable that respects your time and doesn't try to become addictive. A game that you love playing, but that also lets you get on with your life.

Rorshok Reader

We want to publish a book called The Rorshok Reader. It will be a cool, beautifully designed book, not much bigger than a mobile phone but quite long, something you can carry around and enjoy reading instead of scrolling. We're planning to crowdfund it and publish it under an open license, so anyone can translate it, reproduce it, or help it reach new readers. We're looking for people interested in writing, editing, publishing, design, and crowdfunding who would like to help make it happen.

A Better LinkedIn and Handshake

LinkedIn and Handshake are horrible, but unlike many social media platforms, they serve a specific purpose that people genuinely need. People need to find work, recruit people, and make useful professional connections. We think there should be a much better way to do all of that. We're interested in building a free alternative that does what these platforms do, but does it better, without the manipulation, clutter, and commercial incentives that make the existing platforms so unpleasant. We'd love to work with people interested in creating something better.

Tiny Rorshok Library

Imagine a small object, perhaps something that looks like a book, containing a library of open-license books, essays, and other texts. Anyone within roughly ten to fifty meters could access those files wirelessly, without needing an internet connection or an existing Wi-Fi network. We want to experiment with making a tiny, portable, local library that people can place in homes, cafés, community spaces, or anywhere else. A simple way to share knowledge freely, without relying on big platforms or even an internet connection.

Deshittification

You probably know what enshittification is by now. Online platforms start out useful, attract users, and then gradually become worse as their owners find more ways to extract money from everyone. It's maddening, and it affects more and more of our lives. We think people would be happier if they could deshittify their lives by moving away from these platforms and finding better alternatives. We want to help make that easier, with practical advice, tools, and ways for people to make the transition together. We'd love some help.

Management and Operations

We're developing an unusual but very cool management structure that brings volunteers and employees together and integrates their work in ways we haven't seen other organizations try. We want people to be able to contribute meaningfully, work together effectively, and help shape what Rorshok becomes, without recreating the conventional hierarchies and bureaucracies we're trying to move beyond. This is both a management experiment and a very practical operational challenge. We're looking for organized, thoughtful people interested in management, organizational design, and day-to-day operations who want to help build and run it.

Finance and Funding

We need to develop a financial model that allows Rorshok to grow, pay people for their work, and support its projects without compromising what we're trying to achieve. We don't want to become dependent on the kinds of funding arrangements that push organizations toward extracting money from their communities or hunting donors and writing proposals. We want something sustainable, transparent, and consistent with our principles. We're looking for people who understand finance, funding models, and organizational sustainability and would enjoy helping us figure out how to make this work.

T-Shirt Sales

We have some hilarious, cool T-shirts that people love, and we'd like to sell more of them. But we don't want to hand most of the money over psychopathic oligarchs. We have some ideas about how to produce, market, and distribute them in a new way, and we're looking for someone who can help put those ideas into practice.