Is Somewhere Good the Future of Social Media?

What would it look like to have an online platform that is about meaningful connection, that is also about putting marginalized people first and not treating them as an afterthought?

Interdependence offered a route that honored the care of the self alongside the care of others and showed how those two are actually in loving relationship.

Social media is designed to make us all consumable, which translates into turning people into brands. Brands have one single message, and they’re always signaling that one specific, digestible message.

So much of social media is, by design, condensed information — it’s made to be bite-size. So the internet feels faster paced. It’s been really soothing to go to a space where I’m still meeting my desire to connect with people and talk with people, but in a digital realm that’s slower, and that is allowing for a bit more vulnerability, a bit more co... See more

We believe Somewhere Good can support people in connecting with more intention and tenderness, and the ways that we can encourage people to learn, archive, and connect to one another as sources of knowledge.

In order for the internet to be a tool that brought a sense of learning and joy, I had to hack it in a way that would allow for that multiplicity. That’s how I approach being online right now.

We wanted to explore what it would look like if we created a social-media platform that moves against hierarchy and making people into brands. What care and safety mean when creating online connections that feel more tender and meaningful and not so transactional and extractive. And we’re thinking about citation, ensuring that creators and people o... See more

Our existences online are by nature incomplete and intended for consumption. Is it possible to bring your whole self to a social-media platform? Is it possible to get the connection and conversation we crave without the doomscroll?

In one of our early tests, we had a “weekend mode.” That meant that the app was not available on the weekend, and instead there was a screen that told users “we are not here. Enjoy your experience outside of this app.”