Niche Social Media Renaissance: Lore, Blacksky, and Spill Lead New Wave of Interest-First, Doomscrolling-Free Apps
From Doomscrolling to Deep Connection: The Rise of Interest-First Social Media Communities
Zehra Naqvi vividly recalls the “magical days” of the early social internet—the 2010s, a time defined by dedicated communities like the One Direction and Marvel fandoms. It was a time when Instagram was simply for filter-laden lattes and Twitter (now X) was a shared space for cultural analysis and collaborative jokes.
Today, that landscape is gone. Instagram is saturated with influencers, and X has become a politically charged, fractured digital town hall. “The platforms that won were the ones that kept people scrolling the longest, not the ones that made them feel the most connected,” Naqvi told TechCrunch. “Now there is an abundance of content but a scarcity of joy.”
That tide is beginning to turn. Naqvi is at the forefront of this new era of niche social media: highly specific, interest-first online communities. This month, she officially announced the launch of her company, Lore—a specialized site that helps fans deep-dive and keep up with all aspects of their fandoms.
She argues that users are increasingly choosing to spend less time on generalized platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X, instead opting to join online communities that are precisely tailored to their distinct passions. Natalie Dillon, a consumer investor at the VC firm Maveron, confirms this shift, noting an increasing number of founders are building these interest-first networks.
“At its core, consumer behavior is pushing a significant shift from performance to participation,” Dillon told TechCrunch. “For the next generation, community isn’t a feature layered on top of a product. It is the product.”
She points to examples like Beli, an app for sharing curated restaurant recommendations, and Fizz, which connects students attending the same college. Other successful niche apps include the astrology-bonding app Co-Star and Partiful, which focuses on collective event planning. These are the types of participatory apps Naqvi aims to emulate—spaces resembling the early social internet before it “became fractured and joyless.”
“Niche spaces give people permission to be specific and to show up as their whole selves without being lost in the algorithm,” Naqvi said.
The preceding generation of social media sought success through “more”: more followers, more reach, and ultimately, more noise. Now, founders and users are concluding that perhaps there won’t be one single app that becomes “the next big thing.” Instead, there will be many. “What we have learned is that depth matters more than breadth,” Naqvi emphasized.
Targeted Communities and AI-Enhanced Experience
While private groups, including Discord servers and subreddits, have always existed, large platforms’ algorithms notoriously curate content to maximize scrolling, leading to a saturation point. Claire Wardle, an associate professor at Cornell University studying information ecosystems, confirms that users are exhausted from doomscrolling and tired of performative content. She believes the days of building large, generalized sites like Facebook are over, as users worry about online time, content moderation, and hyper-political spaces.
Even rapidly growing exceptions like TikTok (which Wardle calls a “broadcast-style” site) and Meta’s Threads (with over 400 million monthly users) have roots in the last social media generation. As Maya Watson, founder of the recently shuttered app Why?!, put it: “Most people didn’t sign up to be creators; we just wanted community.”
Alphonzo Terrell’s social network, Spill, has found significant success by placing community at its center. Spill became a key refuge for Black X users fleeing rising extremism. Terrell describes how Spill shifted its design from merely feeding users content to intelligently matching them with relevant communities, such as a dedicated group for WNBA fans. Spill also incorporates cultural features like the game Spades and partners with companies like Netflix for co-viewing events called “Tea Parties.” “The next era of social media isn’t about the biggest follower counts,” Terrell told TechCrunch. “It’s about depth; helping people find their people.”
Following a similar mission, Rudy Fraser founded Blacksky. This network targets minorities and marginalized individuals, built on the same AT Protocol and distribution network as Bluesky. While Bluesky’s user base is nearing 40 million, representing a left-leaning demand for tailored political content, Blacksky goes further. Its algorithm can specifically filter out racial harassment and allows users to fully customize their experience, providing a “cozy corner with close internet friends where you can control who sees what,” Fraser explained. Users also gain autonomy by owning their data and collectively voting on community guidelines.
The Role of AI in Niche Social Media
Investors are recognizing that Artificial Intelligence is a crucial factor in building these deeply personalized social communities. Austin Clements, a managing partner at Slauson & Co., notes that founders are leveraging AI to build apps that move beyond niche networking into truly tailored experiences. “The newer apps are natively built for the niche itself, enabling them to create the tools and features most relevant to that niche,” he said, adding that many new applications lead with the tools and call the social layer “community.”
Naqvi’s Lore incorporates an AI tool that acts as a powerful search engine for fans. It provides an interactive experience, linking fan theories, cultural context, and easter eggs, while generating personalized graphs and monthly reports on user obsessions. “One of our early testers said it best: ‘It’s like Wikipedia—but if Wikipedia knew exactly what I was thinking,’” Naqvi said.
Emily Herrera, a consumer investor, notes that creators like Naqvi are now in the front seat, moving away from the “broadcast” ecosystem to act as owners of their environments. Dani Tran of BITKRAFT Ventures is seeing the rise of niche passion communities in gaming, citing Superbloom as an example.
Ultimately, these investors agree on the future. Maveron’s Dillon states: “The winners will be the platforms that combine intimacy, utility, and creativity in one ecosystem.” They will feel like multiplayer environments where people can build, buy, and belong all at once. Or, as Naqvi summarizes: People “want tools that help them remember why being online was fun in the first place.”
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