It all started with a question, “Why can't the Software that's beneficial to us and tries to advance our goals, be more fun, and engaging and make us look forward to our day?”
Most Productivity tools today are viewed as a dreadful chore to be dealt with, rather than a delight, they're not made as fun and engaging as our social apps, this is because most of them are made for employers, not for individuals.
Productivity apps like calendars or planner apps fail to resonate with the younger generation (Gen Z). Many young people aren't familiar with using a digital calendar or concepts like BCC or CC in emails. Moreover, full-fledged project management apps are excessive for everyday activities.
Every generation has the opportunity to either adopt the tools and methods developed by previous generations or to reinvent them for themselves.
This is one of the reasons that led me to build Folksable, to help our generation get things done, in a style that resonates with us, with our upbringing in the era of social apps and photo-sharing with friends.
Despite the criticism the younger generation receives for having "Goldfish Attention Spans" or being "Snowflakes," we are also a generation that aspires to be healthier than before. We're more cognizant of the drawbacks of excessive technology use and more self-aware about mental health. In essence, we've made it cool to be healthy again.
Folksable tries to achieve this by bringing behavior design and reward mechanisms pioneered by the social media apps that we use today, for the benefit of the user, to advance their goals, rather than to maximize time spent on the platform.
The long-term purpose of Folksable remains to inspire and remind people about Greatness.
Greatness should not be confused with being the "greatest," which I believe is a popularity contest that reduces all art into one dimension, stripping them of their texture and depth to the point where what's being compared is no longer what was created, whereas greatness is a quality everybody can have.
Social media, by its very nature, has fundamentally altered an entire generation's perception of reality. With its ever-escalating unrealistic standards, it incentivizes people to showcase only their absolute successes, not their growth journey.
This creates an illusion that we're constantly in the spotlight, pressuring us to make every move perfect. When we embark on learning a new skill or pursuing a new career path, we're bound to be less proficient at the start. However, it's become discouraging to be mediocre. The irony is that everyone who has achieved greatness was once mediocre. This mindset leads people to doubt their potential, believing they'll never measure up to the seemingly flawless individuals they see on their screens.
It feels as though an entire generation has been robbed of the space to grow and make mistakes. This fosters a misconception that skills and abilities are innate for many, causing people to forget that greatness is a quality born from repetition and continuous improvement. This happens because no one is sharing their growth journey publicly.
Folksable is an honest attempt at reminding and inspiring people of greatness as a quality instead of an absolute outcome.
Watch this clip from Ed Sheeran, an early recording of him trying to sing when he was younger. It serves as a powerful reminder that even the greatest artists we know today needed space and time to develop their artistic abilities and refine their tastes through practice.
On Folksable, you might discover that a friend has a passion for playing guitar, and maintains a playing ritual on the app, and shares their progress. This revelation might surprise you because they'd likely not showcase this journey on other social platforms, choosing instead to share only when they feel they've mastered the skill.
