Social media used to be social.

Somewhere along the way, that changed.

Our feeds became places to watch strangers, follow creators, consume content and dodge whatever the algorithm decided we should see next. The people we actually know - our families, our friends, the people we care about - became a smaller and smaller part of the experience.

We're building the nook because we think there's room for something different.

The nook is a private social network built around small groups of people who actually know each other.

No chasing followers. No influencers. No need to make something public just to share it with the people who matter. And no algorithm deciding which of your friends deserves your attention today.

Just a private space to share the ordinary stuff: photos, thoughts, plans, memories, terrible jokes and everything else that makes up a life.

Why build another social network?

That's a question we've asked ourselves quite a lot.

We don't think the world needs another enormous platform competing for as many hours of your day as possible. We're much more interested in whether technology can help a small group of people stay genuinely connected.

That decision affects almost everything we're building.

Privacy isn't something we're planning to bolt on later. Security isn't hidden somewhere in the settings. And we're deliberately avoiding many of the mechanics that encourage people to perform for an audience rather than talk to each other.

The goal isn't to build the place where everyone is.

It's to build a good place for your people to be.

We're building it in public.

The nook is still being built.

This journal is where we'll talk about that process — the decisions we're making, the things we're experimenting with, the bits that go wrong and some of the bigger questions we're trying to answer along the way.

How do you build a social network without turning attention into the business model? What does moderation look like when communities are small and private? How do you make something secure without making it miserable to use?

We don't have all the answers yet.

That's rather the point.

Welcome to the nook.