Monday, June 3, 2013

Cult Watch 2013: Duvamis

Do you ever log into Facebook, sigh, and say "I love Facebook, but I need more excitement. I need new age nutcases, I want to feel like I am in a cult." Have no fear, Duvamis is here.
Last night, I was browsing YouTube videos, as I often do. I usually skip ads the second I'm allowed, but this time was different. This time, I had to see what their angle was...



Throughout the ad, I wondered if this was a movie with a clever marketing campaign. I wondered if it was an insurance company. I wondered if it was going to end up being something silly and frivolous like Doritos or Mountain Dew. Nope. The ad ended without a twist, and I was asked to visit Duvamis.com. I was overcome by burning temptation.
The site greets you with a bare bones splash page, demanding that you log in or sign up. Fully aware that I may be recruited and brainwashed to serve a celestial overlord, I went in. I made an account, clicked my activation link, and logged in.

Duvamis is a social networking site that operates on a digital version of multiple personality disorder. Users are asked to create multiple "virtual visions," which serve as your anonymous identity on the site. I proceeded to create my own virtual vision named Twiggy Gemini. You are allowed to add a title, description and media attachment for your virtual vision. Mine was left blank, as I don't drink poison Kool-Aid.

Aside from your profile, there are various tabs that allow you to navigate the community. Duniverse serves as a bulletin board for all activity, while Virtual Visions shows other users. Duviknow is a forum for questions, full of people red-flagging the site as a cult, people asking profound philosophical questions, and innocent folks simply asking "What the fuck?"

Despite Duvamis' best efforts, the site largely appears to be cesspool of pop culture waste. Spiritual inquiries are mixed in with Mariah Carey leaving American Idol and drivel about Zachary Quinto's blue hair.
The final notable feature of the site is their time measurement. Yes, Duvamis has its own time. Below, I am pasting a translation directly from their site. I. Shit. You. Not.

"Cycle is the analog of social years from starting the astral media.
Circus is the analog of social days from starting the astral media.
Versor is the analog of social hours from starting the astral media.
Temp is the analog of social minutes from starting the astral media.
Seldi is the analog of social seconds from starting the astral media."


Is Duvamis a scam? Not at all. Users don't pay a cent. Is Duvamis a cult? The jury is still out. Is Duvamis the product of a new age spiritualist combining forces with a computer programmer to create the weirdest and most unique social network in existence? It looks that way.
It is free, quick and easy to sign up, and fairly entertaining. I totally recommend it if you have time to kill.

Seriously, though. Don't drink the Kool-Aid.

0 comments:

Post a Comment