[I wrote this about a year ago and it's has been in my drafts since. Reflecting back on it today, it's still all pretty true. Figured it has percolated long enough.]
I've been using this app for over a year [2 years now] and want to reflect on what it is. Glide defines itself as "The fastest way to send + receive private video messages." It is an app on iOS and Android. You record a message to a friend or group of friends and they can watch it almost immediately as you record it. You can watch a whole collection of messages later. You can video or text.
Okay, there is a good overview. What is Glide?
Glide is someone in Florida, Tennessee, Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas and California sharing life in 45 second* bites. It is these people not getting to see or hear each other in person in years, yet communicating daily about the minutia of life and the pinnacle of experiences with most of the nuances of face to face communication.
Glide is not just hearing the pain in someone's voice, but seeing the honesty in their eyes as they share.
Glide is asking questions that are a pain to type, to a group of knowledgeable friends who can quickly group-discuss problem solutions.
Glide is a battery-sucking, bandwidth chomping, data plan eviscerating app that many choose to accept, despite it's appetite for techno-resource-gluttony. (Wifi be my friend.)
Glide is not being able to sleep at 2am and finding yourself in a conversation with someone else who isn't asleep that same exact time. It's also why we learn to manage the notification's Do Not Disturb settings.
Glide is finding yourself claiming a First in your group. First Glide from a boat. First Glide from a train. First Glide getting pulled over by a cop. First from the bathroom. (..and it gets more creative quickly.)
Glide is the internal (and sometimes social) conflict between not wanting to leave 3 consecutive 45 second Glides in the group and really needing at least some of the second consecutive 5 minute Glides after they up'ed the limit.
Twitter, Facebook, texting, and Glide (and Voicemail Kristy!) all serve a purpose in staying connected. Each one is different and there are many other apps out there as well. For now, Glide serves a unique purpose in my online community. Oh, and if you join, tell Sarah Glide I said Hi!
Sure you can bookmark the site, but clicking the RSS symbol above in the header will automatically add Random Keys to your newsfeed. Go ahead, touch it. You know you want to.
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