folsom

folsom

connect soulularly

5.0•15 reviews•

579 followers

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in a galaxy rife with loneliness, a gentle soul called esa struggled to keep up with friends. so, esa developed folsom to nurture real connection. just launched to earth - folsom is for staying close and getting closer - wherever you are on the soulular plane.
folsom gallery image
folsom gallery image
folsom gallery image
Free
Launch tags:Health•Community
Launch Team
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What do you think? …

Shaw McKean
folsom
Maker
📌
hey product hunt! 🛸 i’m shaw, co-founder and ceo at folsom. i’m sitting next to my two co-founders alex and evan. esa sends their regards ;). today, we are super excited to launch folsom, your digital tool for building soulular connection with the the people you love. ☄️ alex, evan, and i have been working tirelessly the past few months with a core group of folsom users and finally feel ready (gulp) to share folsom with the product hunt community. 🪐 you’ve probably heard that we’re living in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. in the us, roughly one in two people is lonely. what’s more - loneliness has a profound effect on one’s physiological health: being lonely is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. loneliness increases your mortality rate, makes you more likely to get the flu, and harms your cardiovascular health. we want to help mitigate loneliness and it’s impact. 👩‍🚀 ok, so what does folsom actually do? when you open folsom, you’re asked “how are you feeling?” this is not an opportunity to flex or to share a perfunctory photo of the same salad you eat everyday for lunch, but instead a chance to go a layer deeper. to share vulnerably with your friends. vulnerability is a key ingredient in building connection, and we want to help facilitate it. we use ai to help you identify feelings and to generate images that help you reflect them. 🔭 we’ve heard that folsom provides the friend content you don’t get anywhere else. on folsom, there are friend insights and revelations usually reserved for the lamentably infrequent conversations when a bold friend demands to know, “how you’re really doing.” on folsom, you get a peek into your friends’ hearts. 🥹 once you share a feeling, you land on a feed of your friends’ feelings. you can comment on feelings and react using cached affirmations. there are no like buttons or follower counts. browsing the folsom feed has catalyzed countless phone calls, the occasional venmo for drinks in a friends honor, and a handful of happy tears. 🔮 if “how are you feeling” feels like too big of a question, there are other prompts available to get the vulnerability juices flowing. you can also send love to friends - remember those happy tears i mentioned? 🫂 folsom has become a core part of our lives. it’s how we keep up with friends and family (shoutout to my mom for being an early adopter). we hope you’ll use it. we hope you’ll love it. we hope to support you on your soulular journey. thanks for supporting us on ours.
Megan Thompson
i love folsom sm 🥹 it keeps me in touch w people i love (no matter how far away they are) in a real way without feeling like i’m bothering them to get fake deep w me over text. folsom encourages me to share how i’m really feeling — love this and congrats you guys! you’ve worked so hard and it really shows ♥️
Raju Singh
@shaw_mckean Congrats on the launch Shaw and regards to your entire team. i believe simple is beautiful and this is one of the simple products i have found on PH. Great idea, nice execution. In this digitally connected world, something of this kind makes it much more worth believing in human connections!
Evan Brown
folsom
Maker
@shaw_mckean @prostudytech we can do that <3 tweet at @beyouonfolsom
Evan Brown
folsom
Maker
@mgnkthrn <3 <3 <3 we love you Megan!!!!! comments like this and users like you give us motivation, this is the mission!!!!
Evan Brown
folsom
Maker
@shaw_mckean @imraju Thank you so so much Raju!!! So kind of you, we've put a lot of effort into trying to keep it simple and make it simple and make it human first and foremost, its so cool you've picked up on that. Humans are the future!!!
Royce Branning
What inspired each of you to build this product?
Evan Brown
folsom
Maker
@royce_branning1 I was on a different time zone from all my friends and feeling really disconnected from what was going on in their lives and social media wasn't cutting it. And then the straw that broke the camel's back was I talked to a friend after the summer and said "wow from your instagram stories it looked like you had such a good summer!!!" and they said "actually no its been super hard a lot has been going on." And I didn't realize, which really made it sink in for me that I wasn't being a good enough friend and the current tools I had weren't helping me be better. Added to that my love of digital journaling and capturing how I'm feeling and it was a product that I really really wanted to use!!!! So when @shaw_mckean suggested a home for feelings I jumped
Shaw McKean
folsom
Maker
@royce_branning1 thanks for asking - such a great questions! i was inspired by a college friend groupme called "friendship and other feelings." the groupme became a meaningful resource for me and was sort of the original proof point for a product like folsom! fortuitously connecting with evan and alex who had their own happiness journeys and stories of friendship was also super inspiring!
Alexander Martino
folsom
Maker
@royce_branning1 amazing question! thanks so much for asking to add my story to the mix, the last few years i've been on a deep personal development and discovery journey of my own. a big part of that journey was realizing that i was not fully letting myself tap into the power of actually feeling my feelings, instead of just thinking my way through everything. on top of that, i learned first hand the power that vulnerably sharing how you're feeling with those you love and trust can have in deepening those relationships. so when evan proposed the idea for folsom, i was in on the spot, and my personal journey has only deepened as a result.
Narendra Solanki
Middleware
Great job with Folsom! It's wonderful to see an app focusing on deepening connections. How does it differ from other social platforms in nurturing real connections?
Shaw McKean
folsom
Maker
@narendra_solanki so glad you asked - thanks for your thoughtful question! few things to note: (1) every product feature in folsom is geared towards deepening connection, whereas most other social platforms focus on broadening connection. (2) relatedly, traditional social focuses on metrics like time in app (driven by an ad-focused business model). while we're excited by feelings and love shared! (3) lastly, the content itself is differentiated. on folsom, you get a peak into your friends' hearts, not the rare travel highlight, engagement announcement, or career switch.
Narendra Solanki
Middleware
@shaw_mckean Thanks for such a detailed response! I love the focus on deep, meaningful interactions over quantity and the shift away from ad-driven metrics. The emphasis on sharing genuine feelings and moments with friends is refreshing. Keep up the amazing work
Alexander Martino
folsom
Maker
@shaw_mckean @narendra_solanki thanks for the thoughtful question narendra! would love your feedback if you check it out :)
Carol Moh
LOVO
What a refreshing app and concept! I read in a comment that you said it’s about deepening not broadening your connection which is really the USP of this app. So many ppl feel even MORE isolated through social media even though they are “connected” with people. Congrats on the launch - excited to see how folsom evolves! 🚀
Evan Brown
@carolmoh yes!!!!!! Its all about deeper, more genuine, more honest connections with the people you care about. That feels much better and the studies show that's what makes us happier and healthier!! Really curious to hear how the app feels <3
Alexander Martino
folsom
Maker
@carolmoh totally!! we so appreciate your support and would love any thoughts or feedback once you give it a try <3
Zabie Elmgren
Finally an app that is good AND does good. Love Folsom and the mission to bring people together. Plus, I don't think there is a better way to cheer up anyone's day than assigning a baby animal to your emotion for friends to see... if you don't know what I'm talking about sounds like you need to try it out :)
Evan Brown
folsom
Maker
@zabie 🥹🥹🥹 this means the world to us!!! thank you!!!
Alexander Martino
folsom
Maker
@zabie your support and kind words are dearly appreciated <3
Dariush Abbasi
congrats. what a bright idea. i must test it
Shaw McKean
folsom
Maker
@dariubs thanks so much! please do - and absolutely let us know what you think. so excited to have you on folsom.
Alexander Martino
folsom
Maker
@dariubs please do and let us know youre thoughts!
Dariush Abbasi
Josh Goldstein
Folsom has struck up some great conversations with close friends about purpose - as we go into next life stages, how do we want to be there for each other? How do we think about breadth of relationships (which platforms focused on virality seem to target) versus depth of relationship (which is where I think Folsom comes in)? Excited to see how y’all keep building this out. @matthew_urfirer
Evan Brown
folsom
Maker
@matthew_urfirer @josh_goldstein1 its so awesome to have such smart people like you thinking about this subject so deeply, thank you Josh!!!
Alexander Martino
folsom
Maker
@matthew_urfirer @josh_goldstein1 it is exactly the right question, and we hope to be a part of the conversation, and hope to contribute to a more loving and connected world <3
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