# State (website)

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(website)
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{{Short description|Web platform aimed at using natural language processing to facilitate opinion sharing}}
{{About|the global opinion network||State (disambiguation){{!}}State}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox website
| name = State.com
| logo = State Logo
| logocaption = 
| screenshot = 
| collapsible = 
| collapsetext = 
| caption = 
| url = {{URL|http://State.com/}}
| commercial = 
| type = [Opinion poll](/source/Opinion_poll), Global opinion network
| registration = Optional
| language = [English](/source/English_language)
| content_license = 
| owner = Equal Media Ltd.
| author = 
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|2014|df=yes/no}}
| alexa = 
| revenue = 
| current_status = Defunct
| footnotes = 
}}

'''State''' was a [semantic web](/source/semantic_web) platform created by [London](/source/London), [UK](/source/UK)-based Equal Media Ltd. It was announced in 2013 and launched in 2014.

According to the company, the platform aimed to build a global opinion network using [natural language processing](/source/natural_language_processing), databases and [sentiment analysis](/source/sentiment_analysis).<ref name="wired">{{cite news | title = Graphing your opinion: Jawbone founder wants to data-track points of view | url =https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/01/start/graphing-your-opinion | access-date = 2013-09-09 | work = [Wired](/source/Wired_(magazine))}}</ref> The company stated that the service sought to democratize online conversations by assigning equal weight to individual user opinions.<ref name="poynter">{{cite news|last1=Kirkland|first1=Sam|title=Opinion network State launches with goal of democratizing online conversations|url=http://www.poynter.org/mediawire/top-stories/241331/opinion-network-state-launches-with-goal-of-democratizing-online-conversations/|work=Poynter|date=27 February 2014}}</ref> 

By 2020, the service had become inactive and in 2024 Equal Media Ltd was dissolved.<ref>{{cite web |title=EQUAL MEDIA LTD |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06254427 |website=Companies House |access-date=22 September 2025}}</ref>

In 2025, a new version of the platform was launched under the name Collective Thinking using the same domain name. This is a separate product from the one discussed on this page. 

==History==
Equal Media was founded by Jawbone founder [Alex Asseily](/source/Alex_Asseily) and his brother Mark Asseily, who raised $14 million in [seed financing](/source/Seed_money) in May 2012<ref name="tfirst">{{cite news | title = State Launches Opinion Network where you don't need followers to be heard | work = [Techcrunch](/source/Techcrunch) | url = https://techcrunch.com/2013/04/29/state/
 | access-date = 9 September 2013| first=Josh| last=Constine}}</ref> from funders such as [Atomico](/source/Atomico).<ref name=gannes/>

State launched in closed [alpha](/source/Software_release_life_cycle) in May 2013 with around 10,000 users<ref name=wired1>{{cite news|last1=Solon|first1=Olivia|title=Jawbone founder launches 'opinion network', State|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-02/28/state-opinion-network|work=Wired|date=28 February 2014}}</ref> and at [TechCrunch Disrupt](/source/TechCrunch_Disrupt) in September 2013 it launched an invite-only [beta](/source/Software_release_life_cycle) release.<ref name="launch">{{cite news | title = State Launches Opinion Network where you don't need followers to be heard | work = [Techcrunch](/source/Techcrunch) | date = 29 April 2013 | url = https://techcrunch.com/2013/04/29/state/ | access-date = 2013-09-09}}</ref> When State launched its mobile app and the platform to the public in February 2014, it had about 30 employees,<ref name=gannes/> most of whom worked at headquarters in [London](/source/London). It also had an office in [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco).

Its advisors included [Sir Tim Berners-Lee](/source/Sir_Tim_Berners-Lee), [Deepak Chopra](/source/Deepak_Chopra), [Troy Carter](/source/Troy_Carter_(music_industry)), [Eli Pariser](/source/Eli_Pariser), [Andrew Paulson](/source/Andrew_Paulson), and [Nigel Shadbolt](/source/Nigel_Shadbolt).<ref name="state">{{cite web
 |title        = State.com/about
 |url          = https://state.com/about/people
 |access-date  = 2013-09-09
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192300/https://state.com/about/people
 |archive-date = 2016-03-03
}}</ref>

==Features==
State had a large dictionary of "headlines", or structured expressions organized semantically. This allowed users to opine more specifically, as Asseily explained: "The world isn’t as thumbs-up/thumbs-down as we may have imagined. They are adding texture to their opinions."<ref name=gannes/> Furthermore, users could “tune”—i.e., follow—in to specific topics such as politics or technology, and could also import friends from [Facebook](/source/Facebook), [Google Plus](/source/Google_Plus), and [Twitter](/source/Twitter). Because opinions were [computer-readable](/source/Machine-readable_medium), they could automatically be summarized and cross-referenced.<ref name="pando">{{cite news | title = Making sense of opinions: Celeb-backed State takes a stab at the modern forum | work = [PandoDaily](/source/PandoDaily) | date = 31 May 2013 | url = http://pandodaily.com/2013/05/31/making-sense-of-opinions-celeb-backed-state-takes-a-stab-at-the-modern-forum/ | access-date = 2013-09-09| first=Hamish| last=McKenzie }}</ref>

[Re/code](/source/Re%2Fcode) writer Liz Gannes described it as an "[interest graph](/source/interest_graph)" [startup](/source/Startup_company).<ref name=gannes/>

==Business model==
Asseily envisioned State "eventually becom[ing] a research-on-demand service"<ref name=gannes>{{cite news|last1=Gannes|first1=Liz|title=State App Wants to Be a Public Opinion Poll for Everything|url=https://recode.net/2014/02/27/state-app-wants-to-be-a-public-opinion-poll-for-everything/|work=Re/code|date=February 27, 2014}}</ref> providing insights into public opinion accessible to researchers and organizations. For example, "insights reports" based on aggregated opinions could "aim to capture sentiment about a concept, brand, or event, which [were initially] free for State users".<ref name=giga>{{cite news|last1=Hockenson|first1=Lauren|title=Got opinions? State wants to build a social network for them|url=https://gigaom.com/2014/02/27/got-opinions-state-wants-to-build-a-social-network-for-them/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227202921/http://gigaom.com/2014/02/27/got-opinions-state-wants-to-build-a-social-network-for-them/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 27, 2014|work=GigaOm|date=27 February 2014}}</ref>

Examples of such insights included the following: State users generally viewed "[Facebook](/source/Facebook) as a whole" negatively while opinions of the company's new [Paper app](/source/Facebook_Paper) were overwhelmingly positive.<ref name=poynter/> Regarding the [surveillance disclosures](/source/Global_surveillance_disclosures_(2013%E2%80%93present)) by [Edward Snowden](/source/Edward_Snowden), some people held conflicted opinions towards Edward Snowden and the [Prism programme](/source/PRISM_(surveillance_program)). As Asseily explained, "In general terms, some people who thought Snowden was a villain, also thought Prism was bad and likewise, some thought Snowden was a hero but that Prism was a good thing".<ref name=gibbs>{{cite news|last1=Gibbs|first1=Samuel|title=State is more than just a social network for opinions|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/27/state-social-network-opinions|work=The Guardian|date=27 February 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Semantic Web companies
Category:Technology companies based in London
Category:Internet properties established in 2013
Category:Technology companies established in 2013
Category:British social networking websites

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [State (website)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(website)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(website)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.