Not out of fear of lack of likes or engagement. I mean, Iāve just joined, but so far I think this app is pretty neat, in the sense that it doesnāt feel like a āoh, Iāve got to curate this thought or personal share until itās whittled down and not actually *me* anymore - so that itās more widely appealing or relatableā kinda thing yāknow? Doesnāt feel like itās about amassing followers, monetisation, or becoming an *influencer*.
Pretty certain that everyone has had angry, dark, bitter, jealous, painfully yearnful, embarrassing moments and feelings. And the kind of thoughts that are ānope, canāt say that. thatās overshare territory babeyā- or like thereās that feeling of āwould I want that being screenshotted?ā hanging over ya. I donāt feel disgust when Iāve read others share those things on social media or when my friends confide in me,
but I still feel shame for feeling them myself? How silly.
One thought that Iāve considered sharing on here, but yeeted into the void has been about my identity, erosion of sense of self, and self image. Existential dread, stential(?) dread. Which is, like, *yeah*, everyone (to scaled degrees, especially based on your race, gender, sexuality, class, ALL of the above) can probably relate to by virtue of existing in this shitty framework of a society where everyoneās physical, intellectual, and material image is always going to be scrutinised.
Which I know? But I still struggle with writing or articulating things like āhey, Iām *not* doing okay with this and I donāt know what to do about it. I donāt like where I am, but thinking about change scares me. Sometimes, maybe all the times, I donāt know who I am or what Iām doing outside of the perception of others and that really fucking terrifies me.ā
I donāt know, Iāve deleted most other of my social media accounts and only really yap to my close friends about deeply emotional and intimate *struggles*. But I still feel like flinging things out there sometimes to strangers (which I guess Iāve just done here lol). Itās a different kind of vent release, a type that you donāt have to worry about extremely concerned follow up questions from friends or family haha. Or like, the feeling that even though weāre strangers from all over the place, we all share in the relatable struggles and joys of the human condition - whether through personal shares or *memes and shitposts*
The candid pet pics are cool too tho
Jan 18, 2025
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Thank you for replying so thoughtfully. I hope youāre right about people not trying to curate their lives here, and the similarities I feel between posts is just because users have a lot in common.
I empathize completely with the idea of changing being scary even if I want to do it!
Existential was the word you were looking for āļø
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iām not sure what area youāre studying/working on, and which is the basis of your essay - also, as a newbie who isnāt well-versed on the culture here - i guess iāll just say some random misc thoughts about my experience so far!
there is something about this interface, i.e. the fonts, the emojis, the formatting, the colours, etc, thatās all so incredibly nostalgic of early tech. it looks like an elevated version of the bare websites they had us build with html/css in ict class. it also feels like a more text- and community-based tumblr, another platform that i found a lot of comfort and joy being on. i donāt have the introspection or technical knowledge to pinpoint what exactly it is about PI, and similar platforms (like tumblr) that makes them safe and comforting/less stressful to use compared to others, so iād be interested in seeing whether this is something your essay will touch on, or define!
maybe itās because itās still new and with a smaller user base than Big SMā¢ļø sites, but the culture here doesnāt seem to care about how many followers you have, or in getting the highest amount of engagement on everything you post! itās an even playing field where everyone iāve seen is just enthusiastic, helpful and thoughtful in their recs or general comments. a small detail, but i also like that specific ālikeā numbers arenāt displayed - it (maybe unintentionally?) removes a lot of subliminal pressure to up that figure!
PI is a happy, unencumbered space that makes you feel like a (pre-)teen exploring early tech and social platforms again, except instead of it being a collection of people u know irl, itās basically a bunch of friends from all over. and thatās something thatās been sorely missed, or perhaps even erased, from the cultures of other social media sites. thereās so much individualism and criticism there, and when you donāt receive engagement, youāre basically talking to yourself bc the algorithm wonāt pick up your posts & have them show up for other people.
thereās always something so special and personal when social sites such as this are in their early days, when the people participating are still genuine in their pursuit on them. the people gravitating towards being here are probably looking for the same thing as well, so i hope for nothing more than for it to stay like this.
Apr 26, 2024
š°
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 ā there's something here that's been missing from digital space for a long time
Feb 13, 2025
š±
Saw this on an insta ad. The app is a lil buggy and slow but I'm sure it will improve. The big thing going for this platform is obv the sincerity & simplicity, no advertising or clout chasing weirdos here (yet?), no people trying to steal your attention by gaming an algorithm
Sometimes I see pics of people tryna look hot on insta with dumb captions underneath... this person I know went on vacation, pic of beach, move on. I might heart the post cause they're my friend and I'm socially obligated, but I don't actually like it and would really rather not feed their ego cause I know they don't deserve it
This place, for now, is maybe more real and interesting. Just people writing weird shit from off the dome, maybe for themselves, maybe in hopes others will see. Keep in mind I came to this conclusion after scrolling some posts for no more than 2 mins
When bereal started it was kinda casual and simple in its approach like this, but was unfortunately too interested in growing and added a bunch of unnecessary features just to become like all the apps before it. But this place is still in its infancy and it's already all that it needs to be. I just don't know if it will stay because although people say they like sincerity, they (including me) will still find ways to optimize and control their public image over time, will show less and less of their real character
Thank you for creating this app, excited to see the social experiement unfold. Idk if I'll be posting on here that much. Cute retro UI. I like
Jan 30, 2025
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