I promise it’s worth it to read the whole thing.
I want to create a place where you see and engage with things that make you think and feel, that you think and feel about for the rest of the day, and the rest of the week. Higher-order content.
People should see something amazing or inspiring or empowering every day, and it should be in a place separate from social media because if I just started an Instagram account, there’s a high chance it would be, even if appreciated in the moment, scrolled past and forgotten about. Not acted upon.
I think there’s also so much content on traditional social media that’s short-form and puts you in a bad mood. Even if you see something amazing, the odds are greater than not that the next thing you see enrages you. I want to create a standalone place. Of goodness, in the promotion of goodness. A place where higher-order content can be counted on.
It’s rooted in my pursuit to create a different life — one without social media — that’s not only different from the normal one but so much better and deeper. Starting with myself off social media, I want to show people all the things they’re missing out on. All the time they can get back and put toward better things.
But not only do I want to show them and tell them about my experience in life without social media — I want to help them start their own, and hopefully that’s as a product of this app.
I also am inspired to make something where people can be exposed to longer-form content, where they have the chance to deeply engage with something. Poetry, the Steve Jobs commencement speech where he reflects on his one-of-a-kind life.
Something that bothers me a lot these days is the apathy just about everyone has in regard to the tidal wave of low-quality short-form content. “It’s just the way things are, and we have to all adapt.”
That’s not what humans are about. And it’s not what they should be about.
While humans should be producers-first and consumer-second, of course you need to consume high-quality content to inform and inspire high-quality production.
My issue with short-form content and why I do truly believe in the merit of long-form content for long-form content’s sake, is that the latter forces you to think. We are meant to think, and we are better after thinking, and quite arguably the most important thing we can do as humans, is to think. To really sit with what we see and feel and sit with our emotions and think about what to do.
But when we let social media do what it does and take us for the joyride of short-form content, we don’t think all day. We don’t do any thinking of importance, or what we want or can make of our one gift of a life. Our brains are suspended, not active.
You may say, speak for yourself, and I’d say you’re right. Some people are still making amazing lives while using social media, but I think there’s so many people, in my generation especially, that could be doing so much more if it weren’t for the constant attraction of dull entertainment in their pocket, always at their disposal.
And overall, if we’re going to get out of these “terrible and crazy times”, we’re only gonna do it by allowing ourselves some time to think. And I think deeply engaging with inspiring content once a day will allow us to have more hopeful thoughts and dreams that the current times are pretty good, and we can come together to make one hell of a future.
My current idea for the app is a once-daily flow that you can engage in, and once you’re through, the next flow’s content doesn’t appear until midnight. The once-daily part is there to make sure you don’t just scroll and scroll and take no value with you. Ideally, you get inspired and carry that into your day, and that’s it.
More specifically on the flow: the user opens the app and taps a button to begin the flow (it’s a really cool button if I do say so myself). They’re brought to a screen with the title of that day’s content. Under that is a handwritten “Context” section where you can read things like why I chose to show it, what from it inspired me, etc. Also, if that day’s content is something like Team USA beating the Soviets in the 1980 Olympics, it makes sense that I should explain why something like that was a big deal, so non-hockey fans could get something out of it. That isn’t currently in the content list, but now that I’m writing it, hell it probably should. What a story.
After the Context section will be the actual Content section. The time to actually watch the video, read the poem, swipe through the carousel of insane Zaha Hadid architecture pictures, etc. Ideally these take 5–15 minutes to engage with — enough time to really experience something special, while still being practically-short enough that you can see it before going to school or work.
Finally, two reflection prompts I’ve put together, since I think reflection on what makes a cool thing cool would be worthwhile. After that, you’d be taken to a countdown-til-midnight screen where you can also go back and look at past pieces of content and edit the reflections if you’d like.
If I’m going to make this as good as it can be — not just an app but a way to improve the depth and appreciation of the world — I’d love as many people helping out as possible. There will be a button to easily send content suggestions directly to my phone number. But if you have any ideas for how to improve the app and make it more effective, I’d love to hear them at kaneaidan12@gmail.com.
The cynical life of a hate-filled world isn’t the one that we signed up for, so let’s turn this thing around.
— Aidan