What we're building, and why.
Notes from two people making a social network you don't look at.
How to stay in touch with friends long distance without keeping score
Long distance friendship does not need a better feed. It probably needs fewer reasons to perform and more small ways to be remembered.
What makes a social network private?
Privacy is not only a settings page. It is also the shape of the room: who is there, what the app asks you to do, and whether there is anything to perform for.
A quieter way to keep in touch with friends
Keeping in touch should not require keeping up with everything. We built Flare around small moments and a quieter way to catch up.
How to stay in touch with friends without keeping up with everything
Staying close should not require a daily scroll. We are building Flare around smaller moments and a much smaller circle.
What an app to share photos with friends should leave out
Sharing a picture with a friend should feel like sending it to a person, not placing it on a stage. That changes what belongs in the app.
Apps to share photos with friends should not make an audience
Sharing a picture with a friend is small. The app around it should know when to stay small too.
The list is not the friendship
An old search query points at a problem that still feels current: keeping a few friends easy to find without turning them into an audience.
How to keep in touch with friends without turning them into an audience
Keeping in touch gets easier when sharing is small enough to do without performing. We are building Flare around that constraint.
How to stay in touch with friends without turning them into an audience
Staying close is not a publishing problem. It may work better when a few specific people stay specific.