Liminal

Ok, here's the deal… I'm currently in (no joke) 19 Slacks and 14 Discords. That's on top of a healthy flow of emails into Gmail, and an increasingly unhealthy feed on Twitter. I don't know about you, but it's just too many inboxes, and far too much noise.

I'm either frantically clicking on every "new message" badge and notification, scrolling back through chat logs, trying not to miss anything good. Or, more likely, I'm ignoring everything but work Slack, and missing interesting discussions and connections with people I'd like to keep up with.

To top it off, almost all of the private community Slack groups I'm in are on the free plan (because the pricing on paid plans is absurd for anything but business). And on the free plan, you can't search or read any discussions older than 90 days! How can you run a team, or build a community with no long-term memory?

The thing that drives me bonkers is, it doesn't have to be this way!

So, what's the alternative?

The alternative is something we've had for a long time: forums. And before you say it–yes, there are some good, stable forum options out there. But the older ones look dated, and the newer ones are trying to be all-in-one platforms where forums are just one component. And IMO, not one has decent entry-level pricing for communities that are just getting started.

Forums are due for a comeback

Social media is fragmenting, everyone's on chat overload, and people looking to start a new community are hesitating because they don't like their options.

It's time for a fresh take on forums. And I'm taking a crack at it.

Here's my plan for Liminal:

• Just forums. No livestreaming, no events, no courses, no chat.
• Optimized for long-form, async discussion.
• One app, one login for all your Liminal forums.
• One username identity across all your Liminal forums.
• One personal inbox for all your active discussions.
• Support for both public and private forums.
• Controlled access, via invites or approvals.
• Reasonable pricing for new and small communities.

Who's the target?

• Professional and hobbyist communities without a corporate sponsor.
• Small, async teams that need a place for their most important discussions.
• Educators, coaches, and content creators running online groups.
• Book clubs, extended families, and civic organizations.

I want to talk to you…

Does this resonate? Do you think forums are making a comeback? Are you thinking about starting a community, but don't love your options? If so, I want to talk to you! Reach out and tell me what you're looking for. Email me at [email protected] or DM me on Twitter.

Launching November 1, 2024

I've committed to an initial MVP launch on November 1. I'll be honest–I'm not 100% confident I can make it, but I'm going to give it my best.

Until then, I'll be sharing my progress on Twitter.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! 🙏 If you want to get email announcements and a launch reminder, sign up below!