Posts worth keeping: short updates, albums, and longform

Social software should let different kinds of posts exist for different reasons. A quick update, a photo album, a recommendation, and a longer essay are not the same thing. They should not all be forced into one feed format.

TouchGrass supports posts worth keeping: short updates, photos, albums, recommendations, and longform writing. The goal is to make sharing useful without pushing every memory into a video, every thought into a tiny post, or every expression into an engagement contest. TouchGrass is built as a safe, open social home for real life — without addictive feeds or platform lock-in.

Why TouchGrass made this choice

Many platforms reward one shape of expression at a time.

For a while, everything becomes a short post. Then everything becomes a story. Then everything becomes a reel. Then everything becomes whatever the ranking system wants this month.

That is convenient for platforms because one dominant format is easier to rank, monetize, and optimize. It is less useful for people. Real life does not arrive in one format. A birthday album is different from a travel note. A book recommendation is different from a personal update. A long reflection is different from a photo you want your family to keep.

TouchGrass is designed around the idea that social posts can be durable without becoming performative.

A post does not need to disappear quickly to be safe. It also does not need to be public forever to be useful. The important questions are: who is this for, how should it be found later, and does the product push people into attention-seeking behavior?

TouchGrass answers those questions with friends, circles, visibility choices, profiles, posts, albums, recommendations, and longform writing. It is social software for real relationships and real memories, not a machine that turns every format into another feed slot.

What TouchGrass does today

Today, TouchGrass supports several kinds of expression.

You can share short updates when you have something simple to say. You can share photos and albums when the memory matters more than the format race. You can write longer posts when a thought needs room. You can make recommendations for books, shows, music, places, and lists, depending on the current feature set.

These posts can live on your profile, where people can find them with context. A profile can become a useful place rather than a fast-moving stream that forgets everything.

TouchGrass also supports intentional audiences. You can use public, friends, and circles visibility to share different things with different people. A public essay, a friends-only update, and a circle-specific album do not have to be treated as the same social object.

The product deliberately avoids several addictive feed mechanics. TouchGrass is not centered on videos, algorithmic feed ranking, public like counts, infinite scroll, or engagement traps that reward constant checking.

TouchGrass also has an open-web and portability direction. Work around federation, ATProto/Atmosphere, Solid, ActivityPods, portability, and private sharing should be described carefully. Some parts may be shipped, some partial, some experimental, and some planned. Link to the feature status page for the current truth.

Limits / what not to overclaim

Durable posts do not mean permanent safety. Anything shared with another person can be copied, screenshotted, quoted, saved, or misused. A friends-only or circles post is still shared with people, and those people can act outside the product’s intentions.

Durable also does not mean public. TouchGrass supports different visibility choices, and the open-web direction is about choice and exits, not forcing every post into public view.

It is also important not to claim that all expression formats are fully complete in every language, protocol, or integration. Longform writing, photos, albums, recommendations, portability, private sharing, and federation may have different current states. Use the feature status page before making specific scheduling copy.

The safer claim is: TouchGrass supports a broader, more durable kind of posting than engagement-first feeds, while continuing to build toward more portability and open-web support.

FAQ

Why does TouchGrass support longform posts?

Some thoughts need more room than a short update. Longform writing lets people explain, remember, document, and share without forcing everything into a compressed feed format.

Are albums meant to replace video feeds?

No. Albums are for photos and memories that should be easy to keep and find. TouchGrass avoids building the product around videos and engagement loops, but albums are not a one-to-one replacement for every other media format.

Can I choose who sees each post?

TouchGrass is designed around public, friends, and circles visibility. Check the current feature status for the exact controls available today.

Are posts portable?

Portability is a core direction, but the exact status depends on the feature. Do not describe every portability, federation, ATProto/Atmosphere, Solid, or ActivityPods feature as fully shipped unless the status page says so.

Does “posts worth keeping” mean everything stays forever?

No. It means TouchGrass values posts that can be useful beyond a feed moment. Visibility, deletion, portability, and storage behavior should be checked against the current product and feature status.

See what you can do: /what-you-can-do

Why this is different from addictive feeds: /non-addictive-social-media

Feature status: /status/features

Last updated: 15 May 2026

Language: English