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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
Related Recs
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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
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funny enough, my final college essay was on what going to change the hospitality landscape (im a hospitality major) in the future. this was 2010 and my answer was social media apps but esp twitter. but to be fair instagram/tiktok/spotify/fb business pages/everything really didn't exist. it was the first time businesses like restaurants and hotels had a direct and public pipeline to the customers and guests. it was just facebook and twitter as the big players (we were already basically done with myspace 🥲) and foursquare was also a thing which was randomly big for hospitality!
anyways, all that said here's some of my random thoughts. this actually feels a lot like those days. this def gives into the web2/web1 nostalgia. it also reminds me a lot of people just looking to connect over random thoughts. i don't know the rules here, if there even are any, but i've noticed that no one is selling anything and i haven't seen any aff links. it's as if there's a mutual respect to not "influencerize" the place, even though this place really is all about influencing reccs if that makes sense? sure there are the personal profule promos (and i do them too!) but those are different than what you see on social media and not ads or paid content. at the end of the day, i think this brings back the connection and nostalgia of what so many of us have craved online! it's also a fun way to get to know different people and even get to know their own personal brands and follow on other platforms. another interesting aspect is that it's a raw look into what our interests are. you can tell just by following / asks who is interested in what. and all the advice here is fun, kind, and honest, which i def can't say about other corners of the internet. interested to see what others have to say too!
& shoutout the founders of this app -- i truly believe y'all created something special here <3
Apr 25, 2024
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- Loving the early-internet vibe aesthetically and spiritually. In the latter sense, appreciate the democratic nature of the ‘everyone’ tab - it feels wild and thrilling in the way of an aol chat space.
- In the same vein, mildly suspicious of the user spotlights; one of the reasons I left IG in favor of PI was the feeling that I was being fed paid or preferred content and it felt yuck. Popularity contests are out.
- Would be more inclined to pay for pro if there was some guarantee/agreement that the money was going towards keeping the platform ad-free *forever*.
- I like how it can function as a source of recommendations/aspirational user-generated content *and* as a personal mini- blog/collage of interests. I think that keeping its purpose flexible in this way would be smart. Suspect folks are burnt out on likes and follows and promotion, but love to digitally scrapbook towards self-actualization.
- Big yes to the ‘ask’ feature, enjoy when they’re wacky, and hope it remains central to the concept. Would maybe be more encouraged to engage upon opening the app if new, randomized questions were up top instead of recs.
Jan 27, 2025
Top Recs from @cosborn
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After sustained isolation and loneliness, spending time with other people can be a much-needed grounding, humbling experience
Invite people over! Hop on the train / in the car to visit a friend! Go to new places and meet new people. Start a movie club, meet up at a café, embark on an open-ended collaborative creative endeavor. Give yourself many excuses to get out of your apartment, and do whatever you've gotta do to put yourself in the presence of other human beings. It's good for regulating your emotional state and ego. It fills a certain part of you that may be empty without you even knowing it
This is especially true for spending time with people who are *different* from you: people who have different talents, people who do crazy drugs you'd never do, people who spend their time in different places than you, even people you might kind of hate! The contrast can be stressful but that's just because you're using more brain power to place yourself in relation to these other people in the moment. But the long-term payoff will make you feel whole, and the world will start making a bit more sense. And once all is said and done, the feeling of returning to your apartment, or of cleaning up and lighting a candle after you've had visitors of your own, will have made it worth all the while
Feb 2, 2025
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I didn't mean to like my own post. Fuck. I'm not vain like that. Idk how to undo it. Don't judge
Jan 30, 2025
Homies, mayhaps TMI, but is it possible to feel so good after experiencing short-lived and retroactively bittersweet intimacy with a very (not only physically) attractive yet flawed and likely incompatible Bushwick party girl?
I've got a story to tell...
Following an unprecedentedly great Valentine's day date and an equal but opposite (not great) conclusion to things with the girl in question (due to things moving too fast and her not being as interested as I was, as well a curious little cocaine habit she told me about), I have paradoxically been feeling incredible, perhaps better than I've ever felt before for this long a period of time, for about a week and a half now.
The only explanation I've been able to come up with is that I hypnotized myself while talking about this turn of events on the phone with a friend. For context, I am not a woo-woo guy at all, instead maybe the most autistically rational guy I know, but I do fw some Rick Rubin nonsense on occasion (a guy can dream, can't he?). But I think the support of a friend, combined with my own extensive psychoanalysis delivered by me over the phone to said friend, induced an intense feeling of grounded-ness, calm, and clarity which has yet to expire. In one fell swoop, it's like I have just finally corrected my brain chemistry after years, or maybe even a lifetime, of low-grade depression and dopamine problems. I am now totally jazzed to work on personal projects, to invite friends to my apartment, to talk to girls who aren't this girl, to put up with extensive annoyances from the outside world, and to understand that Everything Will Be Alright In The End (Weezer reference).
So yeah, I might be insane, but I'm here to contribute my own experience and suggest that there are cerebral, self-reflective, pseudo-therapeutic solutions (that exist within your own mind) to your pathological mental ills. Ponder long and hard about the things that are sending you on an emotional rollercoaster, dissect them, accept them, and look forward to all other things you are capable of beyond your little emotional stint. Try to hypnotize yourself, and if successful, enjoy the all-encompassing wholeness that awaits.
Feb 27, 2025