Vii launches a social network that wants you to fix things, not just scroll

Every few years someone promises a social network that will make us better people. Most of them quietly become another place to argue. Vii, which launched this week on iPhone, Android and the web at vii.app, is making that promise again, but with a twist: it gives the arguing a job to do.

The app is the work of John Angelo, who built Vii under his company Jvnii Inc. around a simple frustration. Social platforms are very good at telling you what is wrong with the world and very bad at helping you do anything about it. “We all spend hours a day reading about problems,” Angelo says. “I wanted a place where that energy actually goes somewhere.”

It takes a village

That somewhere is Village, Vii's signature feature. A community picks a topic, such as the cost of healthcare or a dangerous intersection on the way to school, and works through it in stages. Members post causes, data and personal stories, then trace the issue back to its root using the same root cause analysis and human-centered design methods that product teams use. Solutions get proposed and upvoted against a visible deadline.

When the clock runs out, Vii's AI turns the winning ideas into a finished resolution or petition that can be sent to lawmakers, or organized into a protest or boycott. It is the most ambitious idea in the app, and the one Angelo talks about the most. “A comment section ends when people get tired,” he says. “A Village ends with a document.”

Not all homework

If that sounds like civic homework, the rest of the app is deliberately lighter. A Watch & Review section lets people rate the TV shows and movies they love on storyline, acting, cinematography and replay value, then write a one-line vibe check for friends. There are circles for close friends, clubs for shared interests, events, and stories along the top of the home screen.

Tying it together is a Daily Digest that greets each user by name with the top issues their communities are working on and a short list of trending news. The design is warm and unhurried: deep espresso backgrounds, cream serif type, and none of the red notification badges that make other apps feel like a fire alarm.

“Fun. Substance. Community. If an app only gives you one of those, you'll leave. We're trying to give you all three.”

The hard part

The obvious question is whether people will show up for the substance. Plenty of civic tech has launched with good intentions and empty rooms. Angelo's bet is that the entertainment features bring people in and the Village keeps them, because the conversations end in something tangible.

Vii is free to download now from the App Store and Google Play, and works in any browser at vii.app. Angelo writes about building it at JohnAngelo.com. Whether it becomes a village or a ghost town, it is the rare launch this year that asks its users to do more than scroll.