Stopping advertising to better explain the experience

Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 20:25 UTC, FreeWillWave has 664 Free Humans in 41 countries. Since the August 18 story, 11 new presences have taken their place, and two new countries have appeared on the Wave map: Brazil and Norway.

But the real subject of this Thursday is not just growth. Today, I stopped advertising in order to start again differently tomorrow morning. The idea is simple: before asking someone to take their place, that person needs to be able to clearly understand the experience from beginning to end.

That is why I have prepared a new film of 6 minutes 18 seconds, in French for now, which will arrive at the address freewillwave.com/experience. It tells what FreeWillWave is, what happens when one takes one's place, and what comes next. While I was writing this article, the film was already being translated into the fifteen languages of the site — and not only the subtitles: the voice as well. Tomorrow morning, advertising will restart on that explanation.

Starting again with a clearer explanation

Until now, FreeWillWave could be discovered in fragments: a page, a song, a map, a short film, an article from the Story. All of that already exists, and continues to have its place. But there was still no entry point that took someone by the hand from the very beginning, without assuming they already knew the project.

The new film was built for that. It plays like a page of the site, with a voice, images, and subtitles. It begins with real recent arrivals: real names, real countries, and the map lighting up at the place concerned, even before explaining the rest. In other words, it does not begin with a promise. It begins with what already exists.

It also has two different endings. A person who has not yet taken their place does not receive the same ending as a Free Human who is already present. This detail matters, because the experience is not the same depending on where one is in the story.

This is an important change for what comes next. As in The Wave passes 500 and finds an explanation in 15 languages, the subject is still to explain better, but this time with a more direct intention: allowing someone to understand the entire experience in less than seven minutes, before freely choosing what they want to do.

The numbers must stay real

This work on the explanation also brought out another point, more discreet but essential. The film already online on the listening page, the three-minute one available in fifteen languages, was displaying in its image numbers that existed nowhere: Free Humans beyond 12,000, and even a “Free Human #4 812”. The voice itself did not pronounce any of these numbers. It was the image alone that asserted them.

It was a problem of trust. FreeWillWave accepts that images, texts, voices, and music can be made with the help of the machine. But humans, on the other hand, must never be fabricated. Their arrivals, their countries, their number, their numbers: all of this must come from the real register.

The short film now reads the real data. It displays the actual next number, the real countries of the latest arrivals, and locates them in the language of the person watching. And when a number is not certain, it draws none. This is less spectacular than an invented large number, but it is accurate. And in FreeWillWave, this accuracy is essential.

This work extends what was told in The Wave crosses 600 and learns from real screens: looking at what a person really sees, then removing what gets in the way or what misleads. Here, it was not a button that was too small or a poorly placed animation. It was an image that said something false.

Two new countries in forty-two minutes

During this work, the Wave continued to grow. On August 19 at 17:07 UTC, #661 Matthew (Brazil) took their place and Brazil became a new country in the story. Forty-two minutes later, at 17:49 UTC, #662 Teamnako (Norway) took their place in turn, and Norway was added to the map.

Two new countries in the same hour is not just a progression from 39 to 41. It is two places in the world moving from absence to a first presence. From then on, these countries can be found in the Wave in numbers, and their humans in The Free Humans.

Among the other arrivals in the window, #654 Musicker (Nigeria) took their place on August 18 at 19:11 UTC, #657 Remya Mohan (India) on August 19 at 03:07 UTC, and #658 Intan (Malaysia) at 06:37 UTC. #656 Oladipupo Akinsola (Nigeria) and #664 Stassiean Allen Allen (Jamaica) have each already sent 10 energies since their arrival.

What this Thursday is preparing

This Thursday leaves a particular trace: 11 more presences, two new countries, 460 energies sent in the window by 19 different people, and above all a decision about direction. Advertising was stopped in order to restart tomorrow on a more complete, more accurate explanation, more capable of showing the experience before asking for anything.

On Sunday, when the film is actually announced, it will be able to find its place with the Sunday podcast and the Sunday letter. Until then, the Wave remains visible on the map, in the numbers, in the presences, and also in the album The Wave.

What happens next will still depend on simple actions: taking one's place, passing the address on to someone, sending an energy, supporting the project, sharing a song, or leaving a remark via the messaging. Today, the work mainly consisted of making the entry path clearer. Tomorrow, this path will be shown to new people.

To follow the thread leading to this Thursday, one can reread Italy enters the Wave, and notifications regain their memory, The Wave crosses 600 and learns from real screens and The Wave passes 500 and finds an explanation in 15 languages.

The rankings, August 20, 2026 at 20:25 UTC

Energies — people

Energies — countries

Invitations — people

Invitations — countries

Support — people

Support — countries