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This Founder Wants To Bring Back The "Social" In Social Networks
He's the founder of Blogger, Medium, and Twitter!
Aditya Kumar Saroj
December 20, 2024
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Ev Williams is one of the greatest internet entrepreneurs. At 52, he’s a billionaire and his impressive resume includes being the founder of Blogger and Medium, and the co-founder and ex-CEO of Twitter. He currently runs the venture capital firm, Obvious Ventures.
The story goes like this: On his 50th birthday, Ev decided to prepare a guest list but found himself short on robust friendships. He’s an introvert and fiercely focused on individuality throughout his life resulting in where he is now.
The problem, according to Ev, is social networks became social media and eventually just media. The social part is lost.
The app that most closely reflects his real-life relationships is his contacts app which is obviously a mess.
Ev had a question to answer:
What would an actually social network look like?
The solution - a better contacts app; no strangers, no public profiles, no likes, just people you know.
Ev and his team have launched Mozi, a social app - not in the sense of “social media.” But in the sense of interacting with other people and building relationships.
On Mozi, you cannot post photos or videos, or have any public profiles, or follow any influencers.
The primary value proposition of Mozi is simple: It lets you know when you’re going to be in the same place (city or event) as someone you know. The goal is to connect more often—and in person—with the people you care about.
Mozi focuses on real-life interactions. Modern social media ironically encourages the opposite.
I’ll let Ev’s own words conclude this story:
A lot has changed for me in the last couple years. I made a lot of new friendships and rebuilt old ones. I did a lot of growth and healing work. I now have a robust network of friends from coast to coast. Not because of an app, but because I prioritized relationships and invested the time.
I don’t think technology is the answer to our most human needs. But it would be silly not to use the tools at our fingertips to serve those needs. I love seeing when I will be in the same place as people I care about via Mozi.
Mozi is available on iOS and the Android waitlist is live.
Mozi can probably work if somehow all your friends are on the app which is improbable because neither does Mozi use aggressive advertising nor does it offer any psychological vanity incentives to its user.
Nevertheless, the idea is interesting and if I may use the word - natural.
What do you think?
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