Why Herd? We deserve better.

Mark Zuckerburg, Jack Dorsey, Evan Spiegel, Ben Silbermann, Kevin Systrom. The five founders behind the world’s most recognizable social media platforms share one thing;

All men.

In fact, all 10 major social networking platforms created since 2003 have had male founders. Yet women are more active and engaged on social media than men, and more negatively impacted by the images they see online; 87% of women say they compare themselves to what they see on social media (in comparison to 66% of men) and almost 60% of women worldwide have been harassed on social media.

With such dominant players like Facebook overwhelming the social space today, the desire for innovators to penetrate the market is low. The desire for women innovators? Even lower. Women account for less than 20% of all start-up founders, and less than 3% of all venture funds supporting women-founded business.

It’s no wonder that it’s been 10 years since a major photo sharing platform (none of which include a women founder) has been created.

In that time, social media has evolved from the casual, lighthearted, community-centric platforms they once were. They are now an active part of everyday life, with the average person spending over 2 hours a day on social media.

These platforms have changed the way we view friendships, fame, gratification, and wealth. They have re-defined what it means to be social, well-liked, an activist, influential, famous, and beautiful.

Not for the better, and especially not for women.

These platforms perpetuate toxic beauty standards, amplify insecurities, allow harassment, encourage comparison, destroy our self-worth and promote diet culture - all while profiting off of our data.

Women make up the majority of photo-sharing platforms, yet we are the ones disproportionately suffering from its foundational lack of intentionality, protection, and respect.

We have decided that, regardless of the uphill battle we face, it’s time for women to finally be Herd. By designing for the most vulnerable user, Herd aims to create a new category of social; not only for women, but for all.

Our motto at Herd is “Protect the User,” and we bring this motto to life through every aspect of the app, brand, and business.

1. Throwing out the social scale; no public likes or follower counts, no public facing profile pages, and no “influencers”.

2. Setting boundaries; limited notifications and a strict no-tolerance policy for harassment of any kind.

3. Protecting your data; there are no ads on Herd.

4. Giving you control; through feed autonomy, users are able to adjust categories present on their feed at any time, eliminating mention of sensitive topics and allowing for a trigger free scrolling experience.

Through intentional design, Herd is a safe place for connection, inspiration, reflection and authentic creativity. It is a space where individuals can feel safe to post freely, to come together over common interests and to genuinely uplift one another.

It is our greatest hope that 10 years from now, social media will be redefined. Not as a place of comparison, but a source of community.