New Social Media Apps Combat Doomscrolling
▼ Summary
– Zehra Naqvi recalls the early social internet as a joyful, connected space, contrasting it with today’s platforms that prioritize scrolling over connection and are filled with influencers and political divides.
– A shift is occurring toward interest-first, niche online communities where users seek depth and participation over broad reach, as seen in apps like Lore, Beli, and Spill.
– Users are tired of doomscrolling and performative content, leading to a demand for platforms that offer tailored experiences, control over data, and community-focused interactions.
– New social networks are emerging that emphasize user autonomy, such as Blacksky, which filters out harassment and allows custom timelines, and Bluesky, which caters to specific political interests.
– Investors and founders are leveraging AI and niche targeting to build platforms that combine intimacy, utility, and creativity, moving away from traditional broadcast-style social media to multiplayer environments.
Remember the early days of social media, when connecting with others felt genuinely exciting rather than draining? Many users are now seeking alternatives to endless scrolling through algorithmically-driven feeds, sparking a movement toward interest-first online communities that prioritize meaningful participation over passive consumption. This shift represents a fundamental change in how people want to experience digital social spaces.
Zehra Naqvi vividly recalls the charm of those initial internet social experiences. Growing up immersed in One Direction and Marvel fandoms during the early 2010s, she remembers when Instagram featured casual latte photos with Valencia filters and Twitter served as a gathering place for humor and cultural conversation. Today’s landscape feels dramatically different, with Instagram dominated by influencers and Twitter transformed into X, a platform marked by political polarization.
“The platforms that ultimately succeeded were those that maximized scrolling time rather than fostering genuine connection,” Naqvi observes. “We now have endless content available, yet genuine joy seems increasingly scarce.”
This dissatisfaction is driving a new wave of social platforms. Naqvi recently launched Lore, a platform designed to help fans stay engaged with their favorite interests. She notes that users are increasingly abandoning generalized platforms like Facebook and Instagram in favor of specialized online spaces that cater to specific passions.
Natalie Dillon, a consumer investor at Maveron, confirms this trend. “We’re seeing more founders building interest-first networks because consumer behavior is shifting from performance to participation,” she explains. “For younger users, community isn’t just an added feature, it’s the core product.”
Examples of this participatory approach include Beli for restaurant recommendations among friends, Fizz for college connections, Co–Star for astrology enthusiasts, and Partiful for event planning. These platforms embody the spirit of early social internet that Naqvi aims to recapture, spaces that feel authentic rather than fractured and joyless.
“Niche platforms allow people to be specific and show up as their complete selves without getting lost in algorithmic feeds,” Naqvi emphasizes. She contrasts this with previous social media models that measured success through follower counts and reach, suggesting we’re moving toward multiple specialized platforms rather than one dominant “next big thing.”
Depth matters more than breadth in this new paradigm, Naqvi asserts. While specialized communities have always existed through subreddits, Discord servers, and Facebook groups, today’s users are actively seeking alternatives to algorithmic content curation and creator-driven trends.
“We’ve reached a saturation point,” Naqvi states. “People are exhausted by doomscrolling and performative content.”
Claire Wardle, a Cornell University professor studying information ecosystems, believes the era of building massive, generalized platforms like Facebook has ended. Users have grown concerned about screen time, content moderation, political polarization, and the permanent nature of social media posts.
Despite this shift, exceptions like TikTok continue to thrive, with the Beijing-based platform experiencing tremendous growth despite temporary U.S. restrictions over data concerns. Facebook’s Threads also maintains substantial usage with over 400 million monthly active users. However, Wardle characterizes TikTok as essentially a “broadcast-style” platform.
Maya Watson, founder of the recently closed platform Why?!, notes that “while the spotlight works for a rare few, most people never intended to become creators, they simply wanted community.”
This community-first approach drives platforms like Alphonzo Terrell’s Spill, which became a refuge for Black users leaving X amid rising extremism. Spill redesigned its experience to connect users with relevant communities rather than simply feeding them content. Basketball fans can join WNBA groups, while the platform incorporates community staples like Spades card games and partners with Netflix and Amazon for shared viewing events called “Tea Parties.”
“The next social media era isn’t about follower counts,” Terrell explains. “It’s about depth, helping people find their people.”
Many Black users also migrated to Blacksky, founded by Rudy Fraser. Built on the same protocol as Bluesky, Blacksky specifically serves minorities and marginalized individuals with algorithms that filter racial harassment. Unlike X where blocking one abusive account doesn’t prevent encounters with others, Blacksky users can customize their timelines to exclude unwanted content entirely.
“Sometimes you need a global stage, but other times you just want a cozy corner with internet friends where you control visibility,” Fraser says. The platform gives users data ownership and content hosting choices, with community members collectively deciding guidelines and participation rules.
Artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in building these specialized social experiences. Austin Clements of Slauson & Co. observes founders using AI to create applications that understand nuanced interests, moving beyond basic social networking into truly tailored experiences.
“Newer applications are built specifically for particular niches, developing tools and features most relevant to those communities,” Clements notes. “Many actually lead with functionality and describe the social aspect as ‘community.’”
Naqvi’s Lore incorporates AI tools to create interactive search experiences that connect fans with theories, cultural context, and hidden references while providing personalized updates about their interests. “One early tester described it as Wikipedia that knows exactly what you’re thinking,” she shares.
Emily Herrera, a consumer investor formerly with Slow Ventures, observes that creators are now driving this new social ecosystem. Rather than participating in broadcast models, they’re building environments where they operate as owners, a trend evident in the newsletter space.
Dani Tran of BITKRAFT Ventures notes the expansion of “niche passion communities” in gaming, citing Superbloom as a studio creating spaces for underrepresented audiences. “The most vibrant future communities will center around interactive experiences,” she predicts.
Maveron’s Dillon adds that successful platforms will “combine intimacy, utility, and creativity within single ecosystems. They won’t resemble traditional social networks but will feel like multiplayer environments where people can simultaneously build, transact, and belong.”
As Naqvi summarizes, people ultimately “want tools that help them remember why being online was fun in the first place.”
(Source: TechCrunch)