Pebble (social network)

Pebble (formerly T2) is an American social media platform founded by former Twitter employees Sarah Oh and Gabor Cselle.[1][2][3] It provides an authenticated network where users can make posts and interact in communities.[1] It is currently in invite-only beta, though the contents on the site are publicly visible.[4]

Pebble
TypePrivate
Industryinternet, social media
FoundedNovember 2022
FounderSarah Oh and Gabor Cselle
Websitepebble.is

Background

Prior to founding T2, Cselle oversaw the incubation of new consumer products in Google’s since-shuttered Area 120 incubator.[5] Cselle had also been a Group Product Manager at Twitter from 2014 to 2016,[6][7] where he worked on the consumer product, and relaunched Twitter’s logged-out homepage[8] and mobile trends.[9] Sarah Oh had previously worked as an executive in Trust and Safety at Twitter and Facebook.[1][4] On the day Oh was laid off from twitter, Cselle called her to offer his condolences, and to offer Oh a position at T2 to aid in creating a new social media platform.[10]

Cselle announced the development of T2 in November 2022.[11][12]

In early 2023, T2 hired former Discord Senior Director of Engineering Michael Greer as its chief technology officer.[13]

On 15 September 2023, the platform was rebranded as Pebble.[14]

On 24 October 2023, the platform announced its shutdown on 1 November 2023, approximately one year since it started.[15]

Platform

Pebble is one of several social media platforms conceived as an alternative to X (formerly Twitter) after its takeover by Elon Musk.[16][17][18] The platform allows 280 characters on user posts.[11][4] Cselle has expressed a desire to keep the platform as similar to the original Twitter platform as possible.[19][20][10] It also emphasizes security and safety features such as user authentication.[4][16]

Pebble's moderation is planned to make use of both human review and artificial intelligence features.[13]

On 25 April 2023, the platform's invite system launched, allowing its current community of around 1,000 users to invite their friends to the service instead of requiring users to join a waitlist. Each member of the platform has been allowed up to 5 invites with the ability to request more invites if required. Currently, the platform is a web-based app only.[13]

Pebble offers checkmark verification, similar to X. Verification is done through Persona and a $5 charge is invoiced to offset the cost of verification. Unlike rival X Blue, the payment is one-time.

References
  1. Levy, Steven. "Startup T2 Wants to Terminate Twitter". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  2. "Ex-Tweeps Bet Social Media Is Ready for 'Something New'". Bloomberg.com. 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  3. Hines, Kristi (2023-04-29). "Twitter Alternatives: Can These Emerging Microblogging Networks Succeed?". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  4. Korn, Jennifer (2023-02-13). "Twitter is stumbling. Some ex-employees are launching rivals". CNN. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  5. Lunden, Ingrid (2022-11-09). "Google and Twitter veteran maps out a Twitter alternative". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  6. Huang, Kalley (2022-12-07). "Twitter's Rivals Try to Capitalize on Musk-Induced Chaos". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  7. "Twitter drama too much? Mastodon, others emerge as options". AP NEWS. 2022-11-12. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  8. Beck, Martin (2015-04-15). "Twitter Flips Switch On New Homepage For People Who Aren't Logged In". MarTech. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  9. "Twitter Continues Its Quest for Mass Appeal With Trending Topic Descriptions". The Street. 2015-04-08.
  10. Pardes, Arielle (2023-04-28). "Copy and Kill: The Ex-Tweeps Hatching a Plan to Knock Off Twitter". The Information. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  11. Dutta, Nishitha (2023-01-13). "Twitter Alternative 'T2 Social' raises its first outside funding, $1.1M". Qwitter. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  12. Lunden, Ingrid (2023-01-12). "Twitter rival 'T2' raises its first outside funding, $1.1M from a group of high-profile angels". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  13. Perez, Sarah (2023-04-25). "Twitter alternative T2 readies expansion with launch of invites system". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  14. TechCrunch (18 September 2023): Twitter/X rival T2 rebrands as ‘Pebble,’ saying the old name was never meant to be permanent.
  15. TechCrunch (24 October 2023): Pebble, the Twitter alternative previously known as T2, is shutting down.
  16. "Elon Musk's chaotic reign boosts Twitter — and its smaller rivals". Financial Times. 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  17. "Looking for Twitter alternatives not owned by Elon Musk? Here are some options". Fortune. 2022-11-12. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  18. "How to download your Twitter archive and save your tweets". Simplemost. 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  19. "Analysis | A Look at the Gold Rush to Become the New Twitter". Washington Post. 2022-12-28. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  20. "A planned Twitter alternative dubbed 'T2' just raised $1.1 million". Tubefilter. 2023-01-13. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
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