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Hugo Amsellem

Host, TEDx Paris Universit

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Building an app to deepen relationships we have with people.

Sherry Turkle's talk really moved us, and two friends and I decided to do something about it:

Technology and social innovation has been focused on increasing the quantity of interactions and the quantity of the people you interact with.

We need to spend less time reading and liking statuses online and more time with our people in real life.

Why? Because for relationships to blossom we need to have real life interactions. So we decided to build something to make them better and simpler.

We are starting to build a mobile app whose sole purpose is to have a real life interaction with people you already know and that you want to see!

This is not a spammy thread to promote the app, because the app doesn't exist yet. We just want to meet and share with people that share the vision and wanting to be a part of it! Ping us on http://bit.ly/TEDpeople

Is a mobile app that facilitate face-to-face interactions (so we can increase the quality of relationships we have with people) something you'd love to see?

Related Talks:
Topics: happiness innovation relationships society technology
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  • Josh Coulter

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    Nov 19 2012: Hugo - awesome idea. I am a huge proponent of technology and innovation, yet I find the current social hype of quantity over quality to be quite disheartening. I've removed all of my accounts from such sites, simply because "interacting" with "friends" left me feeling, well, empty. That interaction usually amounted to '+1' or 'Like' clicks. How does that deepen my relationship with these friends? It doesn't.

    So, to sum that up, again - awesome idea. I think it's great. Now, I have a question for you:

    Without getting straight into your implementation and IP, how do you imagine people can connect in a meaningful manner that doesn't seem outdated in today's world? You mention real life interactions, yet we have that capability with app-invoking devices, such as making a phone call, video chat, or texts. Where will your app reside in the continuum of "old-fashioned" phone calls, and the current fad of "interaction" known as a Like button?
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      Hugo Amsellem

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      Nov 21 2012: We believe that for relationships to blossom we need to have real life interactions. So we need to spend less time reading and liking statuses online and more time with people in real life.

      We might have 500 friends on Facebook. Yet, we end up either always seeing the same 4-5 people, or seeing nobody.

      Why? Because texting our best friends to go out is easy, and because Facebook isn't the right place for us to shout "Who's up for sushis tonight?". We want to create that place, that comfort zone!

      http://getpeople.co if you want us to ping you when it's available!

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