42friends
Minimalist social media
It started with a personal question - could my social media feed make me smile?
Social media is an important part of our lives, but I don't think it is always a healthy medium. If I bump into a friend on the street or see a friend driving past, I find myself smiling at happy thoughts. I wanted to see if a social media feed could make me smile in this way too.
The idea is simple: Only 1 post per day, No comments, No likes, No filters, No influencers, No ads, No stress posting, No overload, Max 42 friends, Browser only, Clean and simple.
What did I learn so far?
I shared it with 30 friends of which 19 created accounts, 10 made at least 1 post, 6 became returning users and 1 is a power user.
- Clearly, most of my non-tech friends are not early adopters. I guess no surprise there.
- I tend to open the feed mostly in the evenings when I am winding down.
- Sometimes when I see something interesting/funny throughout the day I am more inclined to take out my phone to snap a picture, knowing I'll post it later.
- I look forward to seeing what my friends were up to for the day.
- I find I stare at pictures much longer than on Instagram.
- I feel like I am way more in tune with what is going on with my friends' lives, without the pressure of having to call or text. Given that the number of daily posts is limited to 1 per user, you end up having a pretty good memory of what is going on in their lives. It has proven to be a great conversation starter when meeting up in person!
- I find that I do indeed smile going through the feed and I feel super relieved not having to engage in any way. When I put my phone down, I feel it is time well spent!
I am aware of YC's advice that social media concepts are great tarpit ideas. In this case, it just started as a personal experiment.
Next up, I am curious to see if the experience makes others smile too!
2 Comments
Thanks for the share. I may try it out and invite others. Why not, it seems fun.
Have you thought about not making a new platform, but somehow embedding in an existing one? Also, I think BeReal which is kind of popular also tries to go on the path you try to.
Thanks so much! Let me know if you run into any issues. When you register, you can go to the friends' section to copy and share your unique link to connect with friends.
Without the typical dopamine hooking features, I find it is a bit like exercise or meditation, it requires an initial intentional effort the first 2 or 3 days, and after that, the value starts to kick in.
Enjoy!