Consumer social apps are back, baby!
Or at least it’s felt like that for a while now. Social apps are always part utility and part whatever the culture says is ‘cool’.
They’re often fleeting, but sometimes they stick.
I don’t have any deep aliases here. This is more just for record keeping.
Some of these are AI powered. Some are made by veterans in the space, others are by a new generation of builders.
Thematically, they are all over the place. Fashion, digital pets, social notes, geo-spatial. All bets are off.
I’ve met with a couple of the founders of the apps I mention below and it does seem to be true that some of these products only exist today because of the improvements in things like Cursor.
One founder told me he was able to quit this job and build, ship, market, his entire product solo which would’ve benefited impossible 12-24 months ago.
A blind spot I have here is… I still don’t have TikTok. And a lot of these are being built and marketed on TikTok.
So here is the list of things I have on my phone today. Keenly watching to see where these go.
Nines
By far my favourite. Each day you can upload your outfit, then the Nines community votes on who is the best dressed. At the end of each week there is 1 winner (who gets a small cash prize). It’s fun, local, and feels like a really wholesome use of the internet. Link
Doji
The hype has been hype for Doji. It’s been a long time since I got asked for invite codes for an app. Doji lets you digitally try on different clothes that you can purchase through the app. The execution is really tight too. Does ssense buy them? Walmart? Idk, but they’re doing a great job over there. Link
BeeBot
From Foursquare founder, Dens, comes BeeBot. Built under the philosophy of “newly ubiquitous + AI powered”, BeeBot responds to the question, what would you build if everyone was walking around with headphones in, a connected device, and we know your location? As you walk around NYC, BeeBot jumps in and tells you what events, bars, lunch spots, etc. are worth checking out based on what other users have input into the app. It feels genuinely new and fun. Need to b in NYC though. Link
Ditto
This is like if Instagram used Notes instead of photos. Users upload a photo and lists of things. Anything. It’s so clever. The Notes app is surely one of the most used product on your iPhone. Making it social is feels like a really clever way of making an existing behaviour fun. Link
Finch & Chonk
These are both ‘take care of a digital pet’ kind of things. Like tamagotchi on your phone, sort of? These make me feel weird. Tamagotchi was super limited in its functionality and that was kind of the point. These go deeper, using AI to make things more advanced. Are we escaping the world? Does it matter? Finch, Chonk
Sniffies
The gay cruising hook up app. Due to the content, it can’t be in the App Store. The product execution is lacking, but it sure solves a problem. The usage looks to be off the charts. Link
That’s the wrap up for now.
If there is one thing I’m thinking about it’s how collaborating seems to be back on the menu. BeeBot with p2p city information sharing, Ditto with notes, even Nines with community fashion feedback. Connecting with strangers to bring new things to life is when technology is at its best.