Building community by helping adults find shared interests and fun ways to connect
Sidekick is the anti-social-media app: a platform that uses 2,500+ curated interest categories and opt-in personal filters to move people off their screens and into real-world friendships
1,000+
Users
100+
Communities
2,000+
Events
2,500+
Interest Categories
5
Institutional Partners
This app, I truly believe, will become a household name and be phenomenally successful. You’ve done really good, and deserve to be wildly successful. Bravo!
This is exactly the type of app I would like to use. Trying to make friends is difficult as an adult and I could see myself using this app to make more friends.
Seems like a great idea to connect people without the negative effects of social media. It appears to offer a better and more positive place to meet people.
From a usability study of 100 volunteers who tested Sidekick for 30+ minutes
Social Wellness is the new self-care
Strong friendships and real community don’t just feel good, science shows they
reduce stress, strengthen your immune system, and add years to your life
The best thing you can do for your wellbeing isn’t another guided meditation,
it’s connecting with the people around you
WHAT IS SIDEKICK
This isn’t social media · It’s the opposite
Sidekick is a social catalyst — a platform designed to move people off their phones and into the real world through shared interests and local connections
Communities
Join groups based on what you actually love — from hiking to book clubs to board games. Real people, real interests, real connections.
Events
Discover things happening near you or create your own. Every event is an invitation to show up, try something new, and meet someone new.
Kickits
Our signature feature: open-ended, interest-based activity suggestions that start with “Let’s…” Because sometimes all it takes is someone saying, “Who’s in?”
OUR APPROACH
A fundamentally different philosophy
While social media platforms optimize for engagement and ad revenue, Sidekick was designed from day one to do the opposite
Social Media
Make the users the product
Profit from their addiction
Algorithms decide what you see
Vanity metrics over wellbeing
Designed to maximize screen time
Sidekick
Users and community leaders are the customer
Help people get off their phones and into the real world
User agency over algorithms
No ads, no bots, no AI slop
Strong content moderation and radical authenticity
We Choose
Real Relationships
over vanity metrics
We Choose
In-Person Connection
over screen time
We Choose
Community Health
over advertising revenue
Key Features
Everything you need, nothing you don’t
Sidekick gives you powerful tools for real connection — without the noise, manipulation, or
privacy invasion of traditional social platforms
Posts, Chats & Alerts
Communicate with your communities through posts that reach 100% of members. No algorithm filtering your content. Direct messaging for one-on-one connections.
Smart Discovery
Eight powerful filters help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Search by interest, location, date, community type, and more. No algorithmic manipulation.
Kickits
Our signature feature lets you suggest activities like on a bulletin board to see who raises their hand. For example, “Let’s go kayaking this weekend!”
Community Analytics
Admins get real insights (member counts, engagement trends, growth metrics, etc.) without invasive tracking or individual behavior data.
Safety & Moderation
Every community has a real, named human admin. Reporting tools, content guidelines, and a dedicated safety team keep the platform trustworthy.
Community Calendar
Sidekick collects and organizes real events happening in your area from public sources (concerts, meetups, whatever) so you always know what’s going on.
HOW IT WORKS
From download to community in four steps
No algorithms deciding what you see · No AI pretending to be your friend · Just a straightforward path to real connection
1
Download Sidekick
Free on iOS and Android. Create your profile in under two minutes.
2
Choose Your Interests
Pick from 2,500+ curated categories across 10 dimensions: from watercolors to astrophysics.
3
Find Your People
Discover communities, events, and Kickits that match what you love. Everything is local and real.
4
Show Up
That’s it. Go to the event. Join the group. Say hello. Sidekick handles the finding, you handle the friendship.
THE ENGINE BEHIND THE CONNECTION
2,500+ Hand-Curated Interest Categories
While most social platforms use broad categories or keyword tags, Sidekick has built a structured, hand-curated taxonomy of over 2,500 interest categories organized into 10 domains · Users can match at exactly the level of specificity they want, from “Music” down to “Bluegrass Banjo”
🤝
Friendship & Camaraderie
28
Categories
🎨
Arts & Music
466
Categories
🎬
Entertainment
516
Categories
🧘
Health, Wellness & Spirituality
98
Categories
🎲
Hobbies & Games
238
Categories
🏡
Home & Garden
65
Categories
📚
Knowledge & Inquiry
401
Categories
🌲
Nature & the Outdoors
95
Categories
🤲
Service & Community
53
Categories
⚽
Sports & Exercise
281
Categories
BEYOND INTERESTS
300+ Optional Personal Filters
Interests tell us what you like · Personal filters tell us who you are so we can help you find people who really get you
Matching on what matters
Sidekick offers over 300 optional personal filters across 7 dimensions. Every filter is opt-in: you share only what you want to share. Together with 2,500+ interests, this creates more than 2,800 distinct matching dimensions.
The result: you don’t just find people who like the same things. You find people who get you.
Languages
100+ languages to find people who speak yours
Personality Type
Introvert? Extrovert? Find your match
Status
Filter by sexual orientation and gender identity
Situation
New to town, retired, parent, veteran, and more
Neurodiversity
Connect with people who share your neurotype
♿
Disability
Connect with people who share your lived experience
Substance Use
Sober-friendly, recovering, or social – your preference
WHAT WE LEFT OUT
What Sidekick deliberately doesn’t have
We didn’t just build different features · We deliberately left out the ones designed to exploit you
No Ads
Your attention is not for sale.
No Algorithmic Feed
You decide what you see, not an algorithm optimizing for engagement.
No Bots or AI Personas
Every account is a real human. Period.
No Vanity Metrics
No likes, no follower counts, no public popularity scores.
No Infinite Scroll
Designed to get you off the app and into the world.
No Cross-App Tracking
We don’t follow you around the internet. Your data stays here.
what we keep secret
Your privacy is not for sale
Most apps bury their privacy policy because they don’t want you to read it · We built ours to
be a selling point
No Data Sales
We will never sell, license, or share your personal data with third parties. Full stop.
No Cross-App Tracking
We don’t track you across apps or websites. No pixels, no fingerprinting, no surveillance.
Your Identity Protected
Hide your community memberships. Control what others can see. Your participation, your rules.
OUR FOUNDERS
Built by people, for people
A husband-and-wife team who left their careers to solve the loneliness crisis, one friendship at a time
Founder & CEO
Artist and entrepreneur with a vision for a new America. Passionate about community and willing to fight to bring us (back) together.
Co-Founder & COO
Law professor and business strategist. Bringing legal expertise and strategic vision to the connection
economy.
Woman-owned
Mission-driven
Built in Eugene, Oregon
Let’s Re-Build the Connection Economy Together
Whether you’re a potential partner, community organization, or someone
who believes technology should bring people together, we’d love to hear
from you