Quitting isn't the only answer

There’s so much advice about deleting apps, digital detoxes, flip phones, and so on. Offline time is important, and I don’t think more technology is the answer to every problem technology creates.

It’s a little defeatist, though, to deal with a technology’s problems by not using it at all. If cars were badly designed, we wouldn’t only recommend walking and miss out on the benefits of cars. We’d want to make them better. Why not have walking and better cars?

Facebook and Instagram used to be places where you saw things from people you knew. Today you can spend half an hour in a social media app and barely encounter anyone you have a personal relationship with. Meta’s own figures from its 2025 FTC trial showed that a small (and shrinking) share of the time people spend on its apps goes to content from friends.

Social platforms have morphed into mostly entertainment and content-discovery services, and increasingly shopping. There’s nothing inherently wrong with entertainment, but it has displaced much of the original social function.

It also means quitting is all or nothing. The apps bundle entertainment with the people you know, so deleting them gives up the small part you wanted along with the large part you didn’t. We think a lot of people would like to keep the people part.

Some people see those numbers and conclude that people no longer want a place built around the people they actually know. I think they still do. That's what we're building with Pools. Take the offline time, and when you’re online, have your own places built for the people you know.