Introducing Topick
After six months in private beta, we are publicly launching Topick: a modern way for communities to gather around the topics they love. We have learned a lot watching passionate people share and discuss thousands of stories on our platform these past months. We have used these learnings to offer a simple interface for these communities to have collective conversations in an environment that is both engaging and welcoming. As we open our platform today, we set out to meaningfully transform the face and experience of online communities.
From forums to mailing lists, communities have thrived online. Regrettably, the places they used to gather have evolved poorly — if they have evolved at all. Most online communities are still using tools and interfaces that were designed decades ago, when neither the social web nor smartphones existed.
Social networks have helped us connect with our friends and those we look up to. But relying solely on individuals we already know (or know of) means we are losing access to unknown peers, to other passionate people who obsess over the same innovation trends or social movements.
Topick is the platform that resolves this.
Think about the power of an offline conference or a Meetup event: all you have to do is walk through one door to join everyone interested in the same topic. Sadly, as it stands, it is a completely different story online.
Why do we lose hours finding and following like-minded individuals? Why do we hopelessly try to build a personal audience when a community is already waiting for us to join the conversation? Why do we limit ourselves to people we know to discuss the topics that matter to us? Why are we still forced to follow our favorite communities on many different websites, managing different log-ins, profiles, and notifications? These are the questions we asked our members and our team so that we could finally build that gratifying, seamless and welcoming experience for online communities.
Topick is a place where passionate people can easily start and contribute to conversations on their favorite topics. It is a place where you can be part of as many communities as you want on one single platform. It is a place that empowers its members to foster a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. This is the experience we believe in and the values we share.
Topick is welcoming — We care deeply about being a safe and vibrant community to foster meaningful discussions. We stand against comments being framed as inevitably awful because of trolls and spambots. Great conversations are still thriving in many places online. We believe product and culture profoundly influence each other when it comes to building great communities.
Topick is surprising — We understand that while algorithms can deduce a lot about us to help us narrow our fields of interest, people are complex creatures of passion and do not want to be boxed into a few current interests. Come to Topick to join the communities and conversations you love and discover the ones you are about to.
Illustrations by Agathe Dahyot
