The Early Internet
The nascent internet was a place of exploration and freedom. A new space of wonder where everyone was free to create their own experience. It was free from the traditional boundaries that had held us together for so long. It was unbounded and public. It could become anything we chose to create. People were encouraged to contribute; it was open source by design. We could form connections on our interests and with like-minded individuals. Blogs and video games brought new communities together. They brought people together who could never have connected before. People were free to document their experiences authentically. All were welcome. It was a new and exciting place.
This sharing evolved over time. The early blogs started the trend of sharing personal moments. The first evolutions of the blog permitted customization and personalization. They encouraged off-the-cuff sharing and small moments. Blogs first encouraged all formats, from long-winded posts to picture dumps, meme websites, and games; deep dives on anything and everything. Many would trawl these wild gardens looking for interesting bits of content. It felt like a treat to stumble upon something interesting. These slowly grew in scope and complexity. We eventually grew to love sharing all facets of our lives digitally and looking for these moments of depth.
This moment in time might have been short-lived; possibly rose-coloured. The internet quickly outgrew its original state. The advent of smartphones changed the world. Then came social media, a different kind of social space, centered on connecting with anyone and everyone. The app store was quick to follow and quickly revolutionized how we used our phones: less for connection and more for entertainment.
Today’s Digital Fiefdoms
The open internet is a hard place to find these days. A few major players now account for the majority of internet traffic. We are no longer free to customize our experience; it has been standardized and sanitized by platforms that encourage us to share only in specific ways. The internet has been gradually replaced by closed and opaque systems. It is now harder than ever to find the digital village and gathering spaces we knew and loved. We can no longer share or create in the same way we used to. We can no longer write a simple blog with our favourite photos. We are now forced into feeds and algorithms, into creating in ways that highlight the best and don’t reflect our lived experience.
We bounce between digital fiefdoms where we are forced to interact with the digital world in prescriptive ways. We are no longer free to tell our story the way we want to. We can no longer avoid ads, and it’s increasingly difficult to opt out of sharing our data. We are trapped in these new platforms with aggressive terms of service. We don’t know how our data is being used. We’re no longer encouraged to take part in the shared story of humanity. We are now here for consumption and attention. We have become the product.
The amazing slab of glass in our pockets with the full knowledge of humankind at our fingertips is now a burden many choose to ignore. We spend an unfathomable quantity of time staring at our screens every day, but how does that make us feel? Many people struggle with their digital interactions, which leave them feeling hollow. Something is missing. Many are trying to quit digital sharing altogether. Many choose not to share at all; to remove themselves from the ecosystem. These issues reflect the collapse of meaning, the loss of hope, and a harrowing loneliness epidemic.
This impact is impossible to quantify, but we believe that we can do better. The internet has infinite possibilities. Only if we choose to be different and create something that rethinks the way we interact and share online can we reform the connections that were lost in a way that encourages connection on a human level.
Disconnected
Feeds and algorithms have forced us to change the way we interact with each other. The fullness of life is no longer welcome on many digital platforms. The small parts of life that make up the everyday no longer have a home in our digital spaces. Most digital platforms ask us to compress our lives into fragments, highlight reels that perform rather than reveal. The everyday moments, the quiet details that shape identity, have been edited out of our digital presence. We must deconstruct a life into a series of small highlights to be shared and reposted. Our lives consist of highlight reels and pithy lines of text. We share memes devoid of depth. We have atomized experience into something digestible and shallow. We have been ground down to dust to be used as fuel for engagement.
It’s no wonder that we feel disconnected. We have no place to be authentic on digital platforms. When we make the top 1% of our lives into our entire lives, the only outcome is a disconnection from what it is to live. The only possible outcome is a digital world optimized for attention, devoid of humanity.
How do we come back to this meaning of life, showing our real selves to those closest to us, sharing the small moments between the big ones? Digital life shouldn’t be a megaphone shouting into the void. Digital life is meant for connection and exploration. It should be there to support and extend our personal experience. It should be there to connect and deepen bonds across the world, across cultures and to cross the boundaries of the physical.
The most damaging aspect of modern digital life isn’t content or technology, it’s the way it forces a disconnection from real time. This severance from a linear, measured life has caused a catastrophic collapse in personal meaning. Our existence is no longer felt as an unfolding story; instead, it’s fragmented, existing only in archived memory for some, and escaping the consciousness of many.
We experience time linearly, but engagement incentives have forced us to disconnect from the pulse of life. The timeline was perfect for connection, providing us with an understanding of what was happening around us. It was a neighbourhood where we could connect with our favourite people and see what they were doing. We could scroll through the past and the future in an intuitive way.
Flatline
Flatline was born out of a search for a better experience and a more meaningful way to share. We chose to deconstruct this experience to find new ways to connect. Something modern and deeply rooted in psychology and experience, something grounded in time; a place to share your story, the whole story of you as it unfolds.
“An unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates
The core experience we found that closely aligned with these ideas is journaling apps. The act of journaling is a deeply personal one. It is grounded in daily experience. Journaling apps offer the depth needed for meaningful connection to deeper insights, but they lack the media-rich experience of modern digital life. They lack social connection, and meaning is often derived from action and the social fabric of our world. We’ve convincingly married these elements into a redesigned experience that is introspective, grounded in real-world activity, and naturally navigates the line between private and social life. This is our vision for the future of authenticity.
Flatline rethinks a world where digital interactions leave you connected to your purpose, creating interactions that deliver meaning and introspection. The act of documenting a life is rife with challenges. It is deeply rooted in our desire to understand ourselves and the world around us. We strive to understand the people around us and share in the experience together. We broke this experience down into three core desires.
- Seamless Media: Enjoy a rich, connected media experience that integrates your many interests and applications.
- Absolute Privacy: Trust in a platform that is private by default, with robust safeguards protecting every facet of your data.
- True Social Connection: Participate in a social experience built purely to facilitate meaningful connection and authenticity.
We believe in a platform that is connected in time and meaning. Flatline begins from life, and unfolds in rhythm, not in fragments. We’re designing around continuity; a way of sharing that moves at human speed and respects the texture of time, where today is a fulcrum between the past and the future. Grounded in the past, grounded in the future. We help people find where they have been and where they are going. A place where they can easily share the moments of their lives with people who matter. Where they are not shouting into the void or competing with algorithms, but instead, share moments of intentionality and meaningful events.
Life is meant to be lived and experienced. Life deserves a digital artifact that reflects the experience, a moment in time rich in content and context; captured and shareable. Instead of a feed that dictates what rises, we envision a timeline that evolves alongside you. Posts, photos, thoughts, and memories are arranged not for engagement but for context; a digital environment that helps you see your life as a story still in motion.
Image credit: “Vanitas Still Life” by Pieter Claesz, 1630
Memento mori. Remember, you must die.
