Subscribe
Sign in
p/call-your-friendsDramatically raise the quality of your friendships.
Start new thread
Chris Messina

Call Your Friends - Dramatically raise the quality of your friendships.

by
Top Hunter
•

"The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives." -Esther Perel
Call Your Friends helps you develop the habits and skills to build closer connections with friends and family through simple text reminders.

Add a comment

Replies

Best
Tim Strother
Maker
It started with a call. My friend and I have been close our entire lives, but we hadn't spoken in several years. Hearing his voice felt like going home again, the striking power of simple connections. I had no idea he had almost died in the time since we last talked. I left the conversation with an eyes-wide-open recognition of the importance of the people in our lives we call friends and family. In the time since, I've reconnected with with lost friends, shared a ton of laughs, and been there for family members in truly important moments. Call Your Friends is a mission: spark authentic connection through action and vulnerability. The significance of close relationships shows up in research as well. In the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest ongoing studies of adult life, researchers have identified an extremely clear lesson: "Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives." If this is so important, why do we allow ourselves to fall out of touch? For many people, it's often just getting busy, not having close-proximity, and not having a system for staying in touch. Call Your Friends is that system: - Add friends, family, or anyone else. - Stay genuinely connected with reminders and motivation via text message. - Simply reply to messages to update your connections. A few principles: - No app downloads - No ads or data selling - Not social media I'm so grateful to be a REAL part of my friend's life and journey. I picked up the phone two years ago because I made a spreadsheet that, in my own words, would "just f****** text me" when it was time to reach out. This is me sharing what that spreadsheet has become with you. I wish you find your essential connections. Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback.

 Much love, Tim Founder @ Call Your Friends tim@callyourfriends.io
Tim Strother
Maker
@vladojsem Thank you, Vladimír! Really appreciate your words and support :)
Anmol Baid
Wow, this is really beautiful. I constantly felt guilty that I had to set up recurring reminders to call/text even my closest family/friends. Glad that this is being normalized and understood as a healthy way to keep relations alive.
Tim Strother
Maker
@anmol_baid Thanks Anmol! Interestingly, spontaneity typically just ends up just being an excuse to not reach out. If you think about when you first start getting to know someone, there's a often a decent amount of effort required to go from an acquaintance to a friend. It requires things like finding times to meet up, actively listening, sharing your interests, and much more. I think the real question is when did we decide we no longer needed to put in that effort, especially with our closest friends and family?
Daryll Wong
Wow. This connects to me. I do have friends I've been close to, its just I do not connect with them regularly as much as I want to - as they are in diff countries, etc.
Tim Strother
Maker
@daryllman Daryll, I'm so happy to hear that! I hope Call Your Friends helps you make these connections, regularly. It's been a transformative experience in my life and I believe you'll find the same.
Daryll Wong
@timstro Looking forward to using it! Side note: Could there be some app-based interface in the future?
Tim Strother
Maker
@daryllman I definitely imagine scenarios where that would be helpful as well. Our roadmap is full of tools to make connections more meaningful and more simple :)
Tim Strother
Maker
@daryllman Cheers! Love the support!
Rachel
This is a fantastic product. Simple, easy to use, and capable of promoting connections with each other. I’ve been using this for a few months, and it’s incredible what making a daily phone call can do for you and the person on the other end of the phone. Especially important during these times of isolation. Highly recommend this tool
Tim Strother
Maker
@rachel_reidinger That's wonderful to hear, Rachel! I'm grateful that this tool has been helpful to you, especially in times when connections can feel much more difficult to create. It's truly incredible the difference that one conversation can have on your entire outlook for a day, week, month, year. Thanks for your thoughts and feedback!
Brenton Weyi
I LOVE this app. It's so simple, yet so powerful. I think it's so incredibly easy in this day and age to add "one more thing" to your schedule and think you'll call your friends tomorrow. And then tomorrow turns into two years from now and you feel too guilty to do anything about it. I appreciate the gentle reminders and the overall philosophy of the power of community. It feels good to stay connected (especially as you get older and the world gets crazier) and I've had so many meaningful connections and re-kindlings because of this app
Tim Strother
Maker
@bweyi Hell yeah, Brenton! Glad to hear it! Oof, the two years thing is what really gets me. One day I just decided that NO MORE am I going to leave it up to chance that it will be two years before I even remember that I haven't been in touch with someone I really care about. In many ways, that's what this is all about.
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
Hunter
This looks like a great take on this concept — simple, straightforward reminders to call your friends — at personalized intervals!
Tim Strother
Maker
@chrismessina Thank you for the kind words and the feature, Chris!
Giorgio Bertolotti
I love the idea! Unfortunately I couldn't sign up because the phone number is Canada/US only 😞
Tim Strother
Maker
@giorgiobertolotti Thank you, Giorgio!! We are rapidly expanding this! Shoot me an email with your country to get added to the list! Looking forward to getting this experience to you!
Giorgio Bertolotti
@timstro Hey Tim, thanks for the reply! :) I couldn't find your email so I'll just text you here, I'm from Italy, hope you'll support it soon so I can try it out! :D
Tim Strother
Maker
@giorgiobertolotti I got you, you're on the list!
Farid Movsumov
Cool idea @timstro 🚀 This looks like a solution to real problem.
Tim Strother
Maker
@ferid_movsumov Thank you Farid! I believe this might be one of the most important problems. I've been practicing this system personally, along with many other folks, for over two years and have found that consistently staying in touch with the people I care about has been nothing short of life changing.
Jonathan Le
I think this is something I've been looking for in my life. Really excited to use it.
Tim Strother
Maker
@jonathan_le1 Jonathan, that's absolutely fantastic to hear! I've been refining this method for the last two years and it's honestly helped me make hundreds of connections in my personal life that I would not have otherwise. Please be in touch via my email above about how it's working for you!
Rafael Matias
Great ideia! I tried to subscribe, but I'm from Brasil :/
Tim Strother
Maker
@rafael_matias Thank you, Rafael! We're launching only in the US and Canada for now, shoot me an email to get your country added to the list! Email listed in my comment above :)
Roger Farley
Really cool idea--love that you can bake in reminders for birthdays and can adjust frequencies for different groupings of friends.
Tim Strother
Maker
@rogerfarley Roger! Thank you for the kind words, birthdays are a must here because it's a chance to celebrate someone else. Especially if you don't use social media to do this anymore like most folks. Adjusting frequencies has made a ton of sense in subtle and interesting ways. For example, I have friends who I talk with regularly (close orbits) who I have at a really low frequency because I don't need the reminder every week. What I NEED is to know that if something changes and I don't see them for some time, it won't be two entire years before I remember that I lost touch. As I mentioned above, there's a whole lot more in our road map to make this work even better :)
Allison Strother
I love that this app doesn't give up on you. Even if you can't reach out to someone the same moment or day when you get the Call Your Friends text, you're not out of luck. You get gentle text nudges you at well-timed intervals, which is key. I've tried making myself calendar appointments that serve this purpose, but those rarely end up working because I dismiss the reminders and then forget to reach out. For me, that's where Call Your Friends has a huge advantage. It's gotten me to reconnect with people that I otherwise wouldn't have, which I really appreciate. Highly recommend.
Tim Strother
Maker
@allistro Allison! That's been my experience as well with calendar and app reminders. As soon as I've missed one, it all falls apart. I needed something dead simple. Like I said above, I just needed something so simple and straightforward that I would actually do it and not feel overwhelmed. Complexity leads to broken systems, and this one aspires to ultimate simplicity. Send me a text with who to reach out to, and I just move to texting that person. If I can't do it that day, it's completely fine. I'll get another reminder about that person. There's no sense of missing out, only made connections.
Brady
I actually talked about needing something exactly like this a few weeks ago. Good timing! I'm gonna try it out.
Tim Strother
Maker
@brady_endres1 Amazing, Brady! I've been doing this personally for over two years, and have found it to be a massive change in my life and relationships. Definitely let me know how everything goes for you. I'm committed to making this work for people, because I believe this work is truly important.
Jeff Johnston
Great idea! I'm going to give this a whirl.
Tim Strother
Maker
@inspectah_teck Thank you, Jeff! I believe if you make these connections a a habit, it will truly change your life. Please reach out if you have any questions or thoughts on how this can better serve you. Cheers!
Jeff Johnston
@timstro I signed up and put in about a dozen friends, family, and work contacts I care a lot about before daddy duty called. I'll follow up and let you know how it goes! 👍
Tim Strother
Maker
@inspectah_teck Let's go! That's awesome, that's the first step, I believe you'll find how powerful this can be over the next few weeks. This is a long game, and you've already taken the first step!
Moiz Ahmed
whoa cool concept
Tim Strother
Maker
@moizahmed1 Many thanks, Moiz! 🙏 I'm super excited to be sharing this with more people and overwhelmed by all the messages and excitement about creating closer connections and how to be a better friend, family member, mentor, etc. Really appreciate your support!
Tushar Shahi
This is a great idea. I recently saw one more product in the same area. I feel these products are very important especially during the pandemic. It has been difficult for friendships and these reminders could really help.
Tim Strother
Maker
@tushar_shahi1 Thank you, Tushar! I'm really excited to see more people getting involved helping people figure out how to actually make connections. Call Your Friends focuses on meaningful connections rather than serving as a contacts organizer or database for personal details. Instead of aiming to be a "personal CRM" for your network, Call Your Friends helps you go deeper with the people you truly care about. This means that beyond just sending reminders, we offer ongoing strategies, motivation, and inspiration for closer connections. It's also run entirely through text messages. Hope you enjoy it!
Hannah S Kim
What a great concept- I almost made an excel a few years ago after graduation to help me keep in touch with my college friends, but didn't go through with it because I knew it was a hassle. This is a much simpler and more efficient method. Thank you for this!
Tim Strother
Maker
@hannahsuyun Thanks, Hannah! I've found that committing to this practice has been completely life changing for me. I've been in touch with friends and family in ways I couldn't have imagined. The simplicity of getting a text message that inspires me to take action really drives this home. I hope you find the same, and definitely be in touch about your experience!
Adam Signups
This would be a splendid idea, considering the pandemic isn't ending anytime soon.
Tim Strother
Maker
@adam_signups Thank you, Adam! This is indeed one of the motivations for sharing more broadly. According to Lydia Denworth, author of "Friendship", a fantastic book on the subject, "how connected you are or how isolated you are, effects cardiovascular functioning, immune system functioning, cognitive health, mental health and even the rate at which your cells age."
DrZim
Hands down the product that has helped me ditch privacy-invasive social media, even during the pandemic, and yet still feel more connected than ever. I cannot recommend it more highly. I'm self-admittedly bad at staying in touch over distances or when I can't seek folks face to face, which has been particularly bad these days for obvious reasons. So having a reminder to reach out, digitally or otherwise, has made the difference between me drifting away from friends and family and me staying in touch with them. I've reconnected with many old friends, and don't just feel more supported myself but am also able to offer support to those I care about better as well. Like any good habit, the key is to make connection into repetition and grow it like a muscle. Call Your Friends makes that easy. Its simplicity is the key for me. Such an unobtrusive but important thing and with such an incredible reward.
Tim Strother
Maker
@dorianzimm 🙏 Thank you, DrZim! This truly means a lot to me. Making connection a regular habit really does do wonders. And you touched on a really important aspect of this here, which is finding something simple that actually works. That's what Call Your Friends is designed to be.
Tessa Matson
Friendships are so important to me, but I found that work/school always got in the way of connection. Work always seemed more urgent and therefore at the top of my priority list. Having used Call Your Friends for half a year, it’s helped me better align priorities with my value of maintaining strong friendships. So grateful for this tool!
Tim Strother
Maker
@tessa_matson Thank you, Tessa! I am truly grateful that you've found this so helpful over the last year!