Taptalk

There’s something happening here that’s different…

There’s something happening that’s different with Taptalk. I’ve been using it for about 2 months and yesterday I told my mom to download it.

Today was the most I’ve shared with my mom since moving away from home years ago.

I’m finally figuring out why the experience is different for me than other products and makes me feel closer and share more with people I care about. (beyond the obvious it’s simple, great UI and ephemeral)

There are 3 subtle differences that make Taptalk stand out;

1. One to one.

Many people have said they wish they could send to more than one person or that it would keep the text after sending. I thought that too but now I think it’s a very important differentiator. The value in any message is whether or not it gets a reply, feedback is what matters. On Snapchat, over time my response rate has fallen off a cliff for exactly this reason. Once I feel like you send the photo to more than one person I rarely respond. On Taptalk, I always respond because of this sole reason. You took the time to send a message solely to me. It matters.

2. Place as a part of the moment.

I think of products as the content you consume so I know then why I would want to create. Seeing what someone is doing and exactly where they are in relation to me is so powerful. It’s so fun to share a moment and see that my mom is at work, a friend is on vacation in Hawaii, my co-worker in France is already out for the night and I’m just hanging at the office. Sharing where you are makes me think of the product every time I go somewhere. It’s actually a reason to share when you go to new places, my mom started doing it on her own. She never knew why to check-in but she is sharing where she’s at without even thinking about it now.

3. No preview of your photo.

This one is so important. When you can’t see what you look like I think we tend to share more often and more raw pictures. This subtle difference makes the product feel so fast but the emotion is way different and has me sharing a lot more moments. I’ve literally seen people spend hours picking a damn filter for Instagram, this is the complete opposite. Share the moment, who cares if it looks great.

The last time I felt this was when my dad sent me a Frontback for the first time. The difference is that I don’t wanna share a lot of moments publicly and it’s too hard to share Frontback moments with just one person. This solves that and many people have been using it like Frontback, sharing two quick photos, front shot and then a snap of them.

Yesterday was a great day. My mom was hanging with her dog, working from home, having a beer after work and then decided to do some landscaping. I miss her but today was the closest I’ve felt to her since being away. There’s power in making moments more meaningful, I can’t wait to see what she’s up to tonight.

Love ya mom. Miss ya. Taptalk made 1756 miles away feel a lot closer today.