Private social networking is making a comeback. Gratitude Plus, a startup aiming to change social media in a more positive direction, has launched a personal reflection journal focused on wellness, including support for families who want to stay in touch even when physically separated. and is expanding.
The startup's name reflects its core gratitude journal service, but in some ways it's reminiscent of Path, which was founded a few years ago. Path briefly emerged as a challenger to Facebook by creating a space where small groups of people could interact with each other. The app differentiated itself by limiting users to 50 friends, ensuring a narrower range of interactions than the larger social networks.
For a while, Path was popular, and while it didn't overthrow Facebook, it stood out as an example of how a private social network can work if done correctly. (Pass sold to South Korea's Kakao in 2015 because the company had raised too much venture capital to recover its investment without an exit.)
Similarly, Gratitude Plus is not intended to be used by a wide range of users. Instead, we aim to help users become healthier people by providing space to journal, track their mood, and stay in touch with family and friends through small, private “circles” within the app. Encourages establishing relationships and better mental health habits.
Image credit: Thanks Plus
“We designed it to be very simple,” says New York-based founder and app developer Daniel Shafer. “I wanted it to feel like I was writing an elegant diary.”
When you open the app, it will ask you some simple questions and ask you to keep a diary. The question is, “What three things are you grateful for today?” You can also change the prompt to other suggestions such as “What made you smile today?”, “What are you looking forward to today?” or write your own suggestions. Journaling reminders can also be set to shuffle mode, so you get a new reminder every day. Optionally, you can also include a photo to illustrate your answer.
However, unlike a private diary, your answers to the app's prompts are meant to be shared with a private group, such as your family, close friends, or even your partner.
Image credit: Thanks Plus
“From talking to users, they love that this is an app that allows them to reflect on their day in a minute or two,” Schafer said.
Shafer said he was inspired to build Gratitude Plus after his mother passed away. His journey with grief led him to explore more accessible mental health tools that people could use with their friends and family to connect with them in a more positive and personal way. He says this inspired him to build a wellness platform where people can collaborate. Traditional social media. He's not the only one looking for this kind of tool. DayNew, another startup founded by a widow, provides a social platform for people dealing with grief and trauma, for example.
But at Gratitude Plus, we don't necessarily focus on healing grief, we focus on maintaining relationships that are important in the moment.
The new Family Plan, which launches on Mother's Day (Sunday), allows up to four members to share a $74.99 annual premium subscription.
Image credit: Thanks Plus
In addition to private networking, a community feed powered by anonymous shares from individual users also lets you see how other users in the app's broader community felt that day. Users can interact with these posts by leaving hearts and messages of support. Schaefer said about 50% of the app's users share their feeds anonymously.
“People feel really good when they support others. It's one of those magical things and if you keep going here and you're stuck in a negative mindset, I want to give people some messages. “If you send it, you'll feel better,” he says. “Many people say it's like a positive social network.”
While Gratitude Plus encourages daily habits with features like push notifications and streaks, Schafer says its appeal lies in the fact that people using the app together, including family, friends, partners, children, and others they want to interact with, can use the app together. We believe that it is brought about by those who do. Some users post on the app with a wider group of friends, such as friends from their dorm or school, or even their YC founder peer group.
Schafer plans to add more mental wellness tools to the app, such as meditation and breathing exercises.
The freemium app currently has over 10,000 users, 650 of whom have subscribed to paid subscription plans that give them access to more features.