The mental model section of your feedback is interesting. I noticed a few things when I first joined:
* A lot of the early interactions centred around Naval. This was a positive mental model for me (average tech dudes love Naval, right?)
* Most of the conversations were either about tech or about Airchat itself. Lots of people were discussing the app while using the app. That created an interesting dynamic because it felt really easy to engage. You're right: if I had joined and all I saw were posts about food in Austin, I would have been turned off.
* Channels weren't a thing when I joined. Brian (co-founder) said publicly he was astonished by people's interest in channels. That's probably a direct response to your mental model feedback. There's too much random stuff in your feed early on. I'm now part of a few channels including MyFirstMillion & Startups, and I basically solely use those. It's more targeted.
Finally, I agree with your thoughts on this app overcoming the anonymity issue. It definitely feel like 'me' engaging on this app. I've got my image, my name, *and* my voice. The downside is the social pressure of engaging as myself. It definitely feels like walking up to a group of strangers and butting in; which is fine in this context (like it might be at a dinner party) but it requires social skills that no other 'social' app has required so far.
Airchat will follow BeReal's declines after the novelty wears off without addressing the key challenges you highlighted here. As always, thank you for producing the extraordinary content.
Excellent video. I wrote a teardown of Airchat too, would love your feedback: https://alexdebecker.substack.com/p/product-teardown-airchat
The mental model section of your feedback is interesting. I noticed a few things when I first joined:
* A lot of the early interactions centred around Naval. This was a positive mental model for me (average tech dudes love Naval, right?)
* Most of the conversations were either about tech or about Airchat itself. Lots of people were discussing the app while using the app. That created an interesting dynamic because it felt really easy to engage. You're right: if I had joined and all I saw were posts about food in Austin, I would have been turned off.
* Channels weren't a thing when I joined. Brian (co-founder) said publicly he was astonished by people's interest in channels. That's probably a direct response to your mental model feedback. There's too much random stuff in your feed early on. I'm now part of a few channels including MyFirstMillion & Startups, and I basically solely use those. It's more targeted.
Finally, I agree with your thoughts on this app overcoming the anonymity issue. It definitely feel like 'me' engaging on this app. I've got my image, my name, *and* my voice. The downside is the social pressure of engaging as myself. It definitely feels like walking up to a group of strangers and butting in; which is fine in this context (like it might be at a dinner party) but it requires social skills that no other 'social' app has required so far.
Again, excellent post!
Thanks for your comment! Appreciate the thoughtfulness (and call out of Naval!)
Airchat will follow BeReal's declines after the novelty wears off without addressing the key challenges you highlighted here. As always, thank you for producing the extraordinary content.
Very interring Kristen
Interesting*
I wonder what will be the new breakaway platform after Tiktok