Every new beginning
comes from some other beginning’s end.
The quote above is from the lyrics to the song Closing Time by Semisonic. This line has been on my mind as I’ve been processing a bit of sad news.
Earlier today it was announced that Pebble, formerly known as T2, will shut down on November 1st. Pebble sought to be a kind, safe, and fun digital town square. In my opinion, it succeeded in being that.
The closing of Pebble is a big bummer to all who found a digital home on the platform. It was a place of genuine connection, caring for others, demonstrations of support, and fun banter between community members.
It was not a digital Utopia by any means. There were challenges and complaints. And lots of room to grow and improve. Sadly, we won’t get to see that evolution.
I am grieving the impending loss of Pebble. Team Pebble probably feels the same way. They put in a ton of work into making Pebble the special place that it was.
Lessons from Pebble
My experience on Pebble taught me the following things.
- We can create kind, safe, and fun spaces when we are intentional about it. And there’s a desire for spaces and experiences like that.
- Kindness to some can be oppression to others.
- Not everything needs a GIF. GIFs are fun, but they can cause a lot of digital noise.
- Apps are overrated. Pebble showed me the potential of a Progressive Web App, and helped me to realize we’ve been condition to expect an app for everything.
- The power of being welcomed. When we welcome others into a space, we helped them become part of the experience.
- Expectation kills Excitement. When you lead with expectations, you lose the excitement of discovery.
- Community Generated Experiences. All of the Pebble “highlights” happened when the community came together to break something, to make a meme and get in on the joke, to rally around someone.
- User experience > Features. You can have the coolest, newest, killer features, but if those features interfere with the user experience, it’s not gonna fly.
- Creating a safe space for the most vulnerable among us will automatically create a safe space for all.
- The best way to find your people is to show up and show who you are.
- The attachment to cuss words is as strong and visceral as the attachment to guns is for some Americans.
- People will surprise you. They’ll surprise you with their kindness, with their wit, with their insight, with their love and care. They’ll also surprise you with their animosity, carelessness, callousness, and contempt.
- Create the things you wish existed in the world. Chances are there are others out there wishing for the same thing.
- Genuine connections require vulnerability. When we lead with vulnerability, we create the conditions for others to be vulnerable too.
- Act without guarantees. There was never a guarantee that Pebble would succeed. But Sarah, Michael, Gabor, and the rest of Team Pebble built the platform anyways. That’s courage!
- Everyone needs community. We join social networks because we want to find our people. The people we can joke with, share with, and be accepted with.
- Connections and Interactions > Impressions and Likes. Vanity metrics didn’t matter on Pebble. It was all about the community conversations we had on a daily basis.
Those are some of the lessons that came to mind as I sat down to write this. I’m sure with more time and reflection, others would surface.
it’s myspace all over again
When MySpace was popular, I was all in. I enjoyed the platform and its features. It was a great blend of social network and self expression.
But then Facebook emerged, gained traction, and everyone switched from MySpace to Facebook. In those early days of social networks there weren’t many options like there are today. So everyone flocked to Facebook.
I begrudgingly switched over to Facebook because that’s where all my friends went. They were no longer logging onto MySpace.
(I also begrudgingly use Discord because that’s what most people use within the live streaming space)
Today the digital landscape is far more fragmented. In large part due to all that’s happened to Twitter. With all the options available, Pebble was my flavor of social network.
Now that Pebble is shutting down, I once again find myself like in those final days of MySpace, having to leave behind what I considered my digital home.
where to from here?
Among the Pebble community, it seems most are either going to Bluesky or Mastodon. I’m not particularly excited about either of those choices. It feels like having to choose between two equally distasteful presidential candidates.
I’m not sure where I will land post-Pebble. For a while now I’ve felt that I need to focus more on the spaces I can create and nurture. Better to spend time cultivating my own digital garden rather than cultivating someone else’s garden.
I do have a presence on several social media platforms, though I’m not as active on those as I was on Pebble. You can find links to all of those here.
Thank you Team Pebble!
I want to thank Team Pebble for all their hard work. For their vision of a kind, safe, and fun social network. Thank you for the risks you took, the courage you displayed, the community feedback you received, and even the pushback you endured.
You all created something special, and it made a difference in my life. Thank you!
I wish the best to everyone on Team Pebble and everyone in the community.