The Day After the Launch: Learn, Correct, and Continue

Yesterday, June 21, 2026, I officially launched FreeWillWave.

After months of reflection, development, and work, the site was finally accessible to everyone.

I hadn’t prepared a big spectacle for the day after. I simply thought I would observe the first reactions, let some ads run, and see how humans would discover the project.

But right from the first day, reality reminded me of an important thing:

Creating a project is one step. Making it known and understood is another.

A First Difficult Experience with Google Ads

To start making FreeWillWave known, I launched a Google Ads campaign with a budget limited to 10 dollars per day.

On June 21, Google informed me:

22,218 impressions;
1,877 clicks;
and yet, no sign-ups from this campaign.

The next day, the numbers continued in the same direction:

22,248 views;
1,565 clicks;
a reported click-through rate of about 7%.

For a display campaign, these results seem frankly difficult to understand.

Thousands of clicks should normally produce at least a few sign-ups, some messages, or some visible reactions. That was not the case.

So I spent a good part of that day trying to figure out where the problem was coming from. I discovered that my ads had been widely displayed in mobile applications, which can generate many accidental or very low-quality clicks.

With my advertising budget being very limited, I cannot afford to pay for thousands of clicks that do not correspond to genuine interested visits.

It’s frustrating, of course. But it’s also a first lesson.

An Improving Reddit Ad

I also worked on the Reddit campaign.

This time, I was able to talk with someone from their team and I had a meeting with her at the end of the day. I modified the ad to explain more clearly that FreeWillWave is a global social experiment that has just begun.

It is also possible that Reddit will grant me advertising credit to test this new version under better conditions.

I don’t know yet what this will yield, but Reddit seems to be a more suitable environment to present an unusual project, discuss its intent, and receive genuine human reactions.

We will see what this new attempt will bring.

Making Sign-Up Much Simpler

By analyzing the visitor journey, I also wondered if the sign-up process was still too complicated.

So I added two new options:

A person can now join FreeWillWave much more quickly, without having to enter their email address, wait for a code, and then come back to type it on the site.

This may seem like a small technical change. But on the Internet, every additional step can cause a person to leave.

I hope that this one-click sign-up will allow more visitors to complete their choice.

Finally Understanding What Happens on the Site

I also installed Umami Analytics.

I needed to obtain much more reliable figures on the actual visits to the site:

how many people actually arrive;
which pages they view;
how long they stay;
when they leave the journey;
and which sources bring genuinely interested visitors.

The goal is not to monitor people, but to understand if the site correctly explains the project.

FreeWillWave poses a very simple question. Yet, the concept is unusual. I must check that the way I present it actually allows visitors to understand what is being offered to them.

Meanwhile, the Wave Already Exists

Amidst campaigns, numbers, and technical adjustments, it’s easy to forget the essential.

Humans have already joined the Wave.

At the time I am writing this chronicle, we are 16 Free Humans, spread across 9 countries:

Belgium;
France;
Canada;
the United Kingdom;
Australia;
Tanzania;
Senegal;
Niger;
the United States.

Today, the United States has joined the FreeWillWave map for the first time.

This may seem modest compared to the billions of humans on Earth.

But each of these countries started exactly the same way: with one first person.

One person who discovered the site.

One person who read the statement.

One person who decided to respond freely:

I am free.
I take responsibility for my life.
I respect the freedom of others.

The Wave is therefore no longer just an idea or a website.

It has begun to exist through real humans, in several parts of the world.

The Next Step: Contacting the Press

I do not have the means to finance large advertising campaigns.

The next few days will therefore be devoted to another approach: presenting FreeWillWave directly to the press, journalists, content creators, and people likely to understand the originality of this experience.

I am working on creating a system that will allow me to search for the right contacts and send them personalized messages.

It’s less spectacular work than launching an ad in a few clicks.

But it’s probably more consistent with the nature of FreeWillWave.

This project needs to be explained by humans to other humans.

A Call to Those Who Wish to Help

I am currently building FreeWillWave alone.

I develop the site, improve the texts, analyze the numbers, prepare the campaigns, contact the platforms, and look for ways to make this experience known to the rest of the world.

So I am making a very simple call.

I am particularly looking for people who could help me with:

finding sponsors;
contacting the press;
presenting the project to communities;
creating content;
translating or proofreading certain texts;
or simply spreading the word about FreeWillWave around them.

It is not necessary to be an expert or to have a large audience.

The Wave mainly needs people who understand its intent and who want to give a bit of their energy to it.

We Learn by Moving Forward

This first day after the launch did not bring the advertising results I hoped for.

But it allowed me to discover several problems, improve the sign-up process, set up better measurement tools, and clarify the next steps of the work.

A living project does not grow because everything works perfectly from the start.

It grows because we observe, learn, correct, and continue.

Today, the Wave counts 16 humans in 9 countries.

Tomorrow, perhaps more.

I do not yet know how far it will go.

But now, it exists.

And every new person who joins it contributes to writing the next chapter of its story.

Welcome to the Wave.

— Serge
Creator and Developer of FreeWillWave