Many have tried to replace Twitter/X, but only a few new social media apps have achieved any traction, notably Threads and Bluesky.
But a new app from Twitter co-founder Ev Williams doesn't try to replace them, and instead does one of the things I value most about social media, and nothing else …
Williams says the problem with social media is that it's slowly losing its “social” part.
When Facebook was ubiquitous, it was probably a pretty good reflection of many people's real-life relationships. It told you where they lived, who you knew in common, and all sorts of other details, [but] social networking became “social media,” which at first meant getting content from the people you chose to receive news from.
But in the quest for maximum engagement, the feed of your friends and the people you follow has become a battle for attention that no one else can ignore. And it turns out that for most people, your friends aren't as interesting as (god forbid) the influencers who spend their time creating “content.”
In other words, social media has become… media.
I can understand that. I reluctantly joined Facebook a long time ago because a social group I was in started hosting meetups on the platform. At first, I was very conservative about adding friends on Facebook, limiting them to real-life friends. But as it increasingly became the best/only way to find out what was going on in some of my interest groups, I was quickly forced to give up on the process. Today, I am friends on Facebook with people I have never met or casual acquaintances I say hi to once a year.
But one aspect I really like is how it facilitates real-life meetups. There have been countless times where I have posted about a trip I am going on, and then a friend has messaged me to say they are there too and would I like to meet up? Or vice versa, when I notice their posts. This led to lunches with friends in places as far apart as Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Dubai and Tokyo.
And that's what Mozi is.
Mozi’s core value proposition (today) is simple: it lets you know when you’re going to be in the same place (city or event) as someone you know. And the goal is simple: connect more often – and in person – with the people you care about.
For example, I just got back from Miami. Before my trip, I uploaded my itinerary (just the city and days) to Mozi. This information was shared only with my contacts (excluding the ones I didn’t need). That way, even before my trip, I could see both people I knew who lived there and other friends who were visiting at the same time, so we could meet up and make plans.
That’s it. No posts, no photos, just real places and plans.
The app is very privacy-focused. While you share your contacts to see who you know on Mozi, the data is encrypted and never used by the company for anything else. Only shared contacts can see your location/planned location.
Mozi has only been in beta mode with a limited audience so far, so it doesn't surprise me that none of my contacts are using it yet. But unlike Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon, where I just registered my username and never used it again, I actually installed Mozi.
We'll just have to see if it can overcome the Catch-22 problem where no one uses a new social media app because no one uses the app.
Mozi is currently only available on iOS and only supports Sign in with Apple.
Image: Mozi
