All You Need to Know About ‘Swell’

The trend of live audio platforms isn’t something that the world is unaware of either. Earlier this year we got Clubhouse and Twitter’s very own Twitter Spaces. Now with Instagram too working on a live audio section we know the urge to catch up with the trend is real. Keeping up with this upcoming era, Swell, a San Francisco based startup has emerged with its own unique touch. Here’s all that you need to know about Swell.

About Swell

Swell is a new voice based social platform founded by Sudha K Varadarajan and Arish Ali. Swell’s interface is a blend of WhatsApp audio/voice notes, Instagram feed and Clubhouse live audio. Every post on Swell is up to 5 min of audio and can have links and photos.

Emotions, Not Emojis

Swell is powered by the human voice. Every post and share has a voice attached to it. Swell believes that our “voices humanize us. Conversations on Swell are genuine as you can hear the emotions, understand the intent, and feel more connected to the speaker.”

On Your Time

On Swell, users don’t miss out on what’s important as no scheduling is necessary. People can listen at their convenience,  join when they wish to and can always catch up with stuff they missed with the convenience of continuing a conversation at any time.

Ways to Talk

Swell offers three ways to talk:

Swellcasts
Swellcasts are public and can be shared on the web. Users can post on their own Swellcast or any Open Swellcast.

Groups
Groups are for members-only and by invitation. Swell users can start their own groups for friends, family or work. All the conversations in a Group are private.

Messages
Messages are private and sent directly to one or more users on Swell.

Authentic

“Swell is designed for people to share firsthand accounts and perspectives. Any shared content comes with a voice and explanation, and users can provide links to credible sources to prevent the spread of misinformation. Memes and mindless forwards have no place on Swell.” says the company.

No Ads and Full Control

Swell has no ads as the company believes that ad-driven ecosystems go against their goal of “fostering thoughtful and authentic conversations.“

When it comes to being in charge, the authority lies solely with the users. They can control who can take part in their conversations and can moderate or remove any replies within the conversations. To manage who can listen and talk, users can make use of the members-only Groups.