đź—ż
Since I started using PI.FYI last month, I've posted 100 times in three weeks—a combo of asks and recs.
Sidebar: I think there's not too much or too little posting. You could post dozens of times daily or you could never post at all, and if it is the right fit for you, then good! — Embrace the right fit for you and shun any kind of comparisons with anyone or any false self bullshit measuring sticks.
For me one hundred posts in three weeks is prodigious. A casual scan back at my usage of other social media type sites—Fartbook, Instabutt, Substack Nuts, etc—shows that it would have taken several years to hit three digits.
Something about this space—which I think is the most exciting online place since 2020-era Substack, RIP—has re-sparked that creative community spirit.
I love:
- the people
- the structure that is organized around asking and offering
- the fact that I've picked up stupendously great advice on a whole range of things — from notebooks to health tips to life hacks and new music and books and so much more
- the sincerity: I've seen this recced before, yes! — maybe this is #1
Oct 10, 2024
Related Recs
đź“°
a couple of my friends who worked at the seattle times + seattle stranger posted screenshots of their newly minted pi.fyi profiles on their ig stories (presumably after hearing about it in some journalistic capacity) and i was intrigued
being on facebook twitter and instagram for p much the entire time those platforms have been around made me really jaded so i was just generally excitable about new social media (was semi-active on clubhouse when that first launched, got really excited about dispo before david dobrik got megacanceled, etc.) and pi.fyi fit the bill
microblogging is so intimate and human and just feels central to the early-00s "wild west" vibe folks loved about the internet, how it was a space for limitless expression and delightful serendipity of finding someone / something cool online and knowing that it was a real person being real with you. as the channels for that kind of expression became rapidly streamlined and commercialized, the "share what you like" charter felt so fundamental to what the internet should be to me and it seemed like tyler + staff were working really hard on figuring out how to build tech that intentionally facilitated that over "website is for advertising" like literally everywhere else
definitely behave differently on here than other platforms; i don't really post elsewhere. ~2022 i mass deleted every social media app (first twitter then tiktok then ig then reddit then youtube) and deactivated a bunch of accounts, eventually went back to instagram to be able to easily connect with folks i met irl / tap into events in my city but didn't really post to the account before this last december. i am verbose to a fault (which i can't / won't be on other platforms) but pi.fyi feels like an app where that's actually ok and kind of good maybe? being verbose about the stuff you like kind of feels like the point of liking stuff
i would / have shared this site with friends! but i'm not quite shouting from the rooftops that people should come here quite yet for the following reasons:
1. i think that twitter + ig have fried people's dopamine receptors to the point that "number get big" is the point of social media for a lot of folks; that doesn't really happen here
2. being earnest online is decidedly not the point of social media for a lot of folks; that does happen here and i think people finding it organically and intentionally participating is why it continues to happen
3. "every white person in (or thinking about moving to) brooklyn: the website" is not a super appealing sales pitch for my friends, who are largely not white (i do think that's just the case while the site is so young tho)
but yeah, perfectly imperfect fuckin' rips and i think within 48 hours of being on here i decided to pay for pro. really excited to see where it goes as editorial continues to flourish and people continue to sign up – there's something here that's been missing from digital space for a long time
Feb 13, 2025
⚠️
As pi.fyi gains popularity I notice more and more people using it like twitter/trying to hit an algorithm/”tweetdecking” recs/memeing
so incongruent to me because pi truly feels like a place of respite from all the aforementioned internet behavior. using it to identify and share small joys from your day, talk about things you want more of in your life, share about yourself, explore things you’re curious about … I promise that’s “good content”. 🫶
Mar 7, 2024
🌟
Here it is. Ol' six-hundo. It's hard to believe I've been on here for the better part of a year. There have been many things that I assumed would remain constant throughout life: friendships, some jobs, Kudos granola bars, Twitter, non-fluorescent presidents, the list goes on... But in the past 5 years or so, it seems like an accelerated impermanence has crept in. Maybe it's the breakneck pace at which we're consuming and shitting out information, culture, and technology. Maybe it's the pandemic. Maybe it's the dire state of global politics and the various societal breaking points we have lived through. Or maybe this is just what getting older feels like. Whatever the case may be, when something consistent comes along these days, it tends to stand out, especially when everything else in the world seems to be happening faster and harder.
PI.FYI has been such a welcomed change of pace in my online life. This place has become a sanctuary for my mind, and it has been a privilege to come to that realization alongside so many others who feel similarly. The genuine connections made here have made me more optimistic too - it turns out people really do just like helping people without using that as a pretense for scoring social points or for outsized recognition. There's no nagging urge to consistently post to stay relevant, and I don't feel like I'm needlessly marketing my own thoughts. Even when I take a break for a while, it holds a little place in the subconscious wilderness of my brain like a curious little creature sitting by a river of experiences, jotting down notes of life's little wonders, excited to share what it found later.
I don't know where I was going with this, but I guess my 600th rec is an homage to this new constant in my life. One that has stuck with me through weddings, funerals, and dental appointments. A passionate little place where people are just excited to talk about the things that bring them joy, all while Tyler and the team turn wrenches, patch leaks, and everything else they do behind the scenes to make it all possible.
❤️
Sep 21, 2024
Top Recs from @mattshawsome
🛑
this is worthy of celebration: the lack of video—autoplay video, noisy inane video, panicky video, algorithmic, dumb video, rabbit hole video, any video—on pi.fyi is a good thing
Oct 5, 2024
🥾
this is going to hurt — A LOT — but it's getting to the point where there's no other option
1d ago
🥨
one of my 2025 habit goals
alone or with others, it is the best
Jan 21, 2025