We created an app with the idea to change social media forever

It started with Myspace, then it was the era of Facebook, then again Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and so many others.

Now it’s time for Nile.

Social media has been part of our social fabric since the past two decades and as we progress, so has social media and the way we communicate with each other, stay in touch, and share content.

Yet in what way and exactly how much has social media affected us?

One noticeable change is that simply speaking we spend a lot of time on social media. Most sources suggest teens in the US spend on average 6–9 hours on their phones. Several academic articles also reported that this trend has increased a lot due to the lockdown restrictions ensued by the Covid-19 pandemic.

That is a staggering amount of time and many experts are ringing the alarm bells. Looking at a line chart that measures teen self harm and depression one can notice a worrisome increase since the years 2012–2013 which some people correlate to the rise in the use of social media.

Among the primary causes are cyber bullying especially prevalent among teens, who create fake social media profiles to shame fellow teens. But among other causes is also FOMO (fear of missing out) as well as the unrealistic wealth and beauty standards pushed by celebrities and influencers alike trying to promote their products, beauty filters and get quick rich schemes.

As social media continues to take a large amount of time in our lives and more people are joining these platforms, so will the number of people who suffers from the potential negative effects.

So, what’s the solution?

Certainly social media are here and are going to be around for a while, so just getting rid of them won’t cut it. Sure, there’s always the option of setting a time limit on your phone — but if you are like me then you’ll always be tempted to hit that “ignore limit” button and before you know it you’ve scrolled on IG for about an hour.

This is where Nile comes in. Something about Nile just hits different.

It doesn’t propose itself as an alternative social media platform. Something you’ve already seen, simply repackaged. With Nile, we want to develop social media 2.0. We want to take all the bad things out of social media and create a new concept. Negativity, loneliness, superficial connections, privacy violations: all words associated with modern day social media have no place on Nile.

Instead, we designed Nile to be a place for authentic human connection, positivity, inspiration, and privacy. Nile is a place for people to develop their passions, nurture their interests and experience something deeper. To feel seen and appreciated.

We decided to ditch the one-to-many model of leaving comments/reactions and replaced it with the one-to-one discover chat, so people can truly connect. We also decided to make the platform entirely anonymous so people can express themselves freely without judgement and prejudice.

What do you think, isn’t it time for a change?

If you believe in this vision and you want to see a better version of social media it would mean the world to us if you can be one of our brave beta testers.

Any great movement needs great people behind it, with your help and feedback you can help us make Nile a great platform for many to come.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfDsRlBzCh85P3kEz0yzLUX7f52c-lgfXT3E6GvgsOM4Qvh8Q/viewform