What is the Empathy Network?
Viranda is the first empathy network, prioritizing the outcomes of connections—empathy, self-esteem, belonging, and feeling heard—over the mere act of connecting. Unlike traditional social networks that focus on the quantity of connections, the Empathy Network emphasizes the quality and emotional depth of interactions.
The Empathy Network aims to build a safe space where people can share struggles, offer support, and find strength through shared empathy.
Key Characteristics
- Focus on Outcomes: Prioritizes empathy, self-esteem, belonging, and the feeling of being heard over the number of connections.
- Strength of Anonymity: Provides a powerful way to be true to oneself without fear of judgment, fostering honest, unfiltered communication.
- Feelings over social identity: Encourages sharing true feelings and experiences in a safe, non-judgmental, and anonymous space.
- Supportive Algorithms: Our technology connects Ventors with trained empathic listeners (Vira) using the MatchFlow algorithm and the Empathy Accumulated Rating (E.A.R) score. MatchFlow pairs Ventors with Vira based on language, status, age, gender, and country, ensuring optimal connections. The EAR score prioritizes Vira with higher ratings to provide Ventors with the best possible empathy.
- Privacy and Trust: Commits to protecting users’ privacy without sharing personal data and no need for registration, ensuring open sharing without fear.
- Preventive Emotional Venting®: PEV promotes emotional well-being through daily, intentional emotional release. Unlike traditional networks that can lead to negative effects when used daily, the Empathy Network’s regular use fosters emotional health.
Shortcomings of Traditional Social Networks
While social networks are excellent tools for networking, entertainment, personal branding, consulting, and any interest-driven purposes, they are not replacements for real-world connections (nor should they be). Their format allows for bringing the world closer together, but only digitally.
Problematic Definition of “Friend”
The term “friend” in social networks often refers to a digital connection rather than a real-world relationship. This redefinition can dilute the meaning of true friendship, leading people to equate the number of online connections with actual social support, which may not provide the emotional depth we truly desire.
Expression for Likes and Shares
People often tailor what they post to get more likes and shares because social media rewards popular content. This means they might post what they think others will like rather than what they truly feel, preventing genuine self-expression.
Quantitative Overload
Social networks can’t ask how we feel, so they predict it based on numeric indicators of our connections and behavior. Success is measured by the number of connections and interactions, but these metrics don’t capture the depth of human relationships.
Surface-Level Engagement
The focus on curated content and maintaining appearances often prevents genuine, vulnerable communication. People are more likely to share highlights rather than struggles, missing out on the empathy that comes from sharing authentic experiences. It feels like we need to comply with the “social media code,” aligning with our friends’ expectations rather than being ourselves. For example, giving a like to someone’s success post to maintain a good relationship, even if it wouldn’t happen in real life (because we are not aware of something, so there is no expectation). Endless scrolling and superficial likes can leave users feeling more isolated than ever.
The Positive Feed Paradox
High engagement reflects interest in content, which makes it seen by more people. Fear, hate, and anger are strong drivers of virality, so naturally, negative content attracts more engagement, bringing it to our feeds. While the algorithm simply wants to show us the most interesting and popular stuff, the high percentage of negative content makes us feel like it’s a reflection of the world outside. And who wouldn’t feel negative in a negative world?
Privacy Concerns
The need for personal data to fuel targeted advertising compromises users’ privacy, making people wary of sharing their true selves. This lack of trust further erodes the potential for genuine empathy.
Viranda: First Empathy Network
Viranda focuses on making a positive difference in our well-being by prioritizing how we feel. By fostering empathy and compassion in an anonymous environment through Preventive Emotional Venting® (PEV), we aim to combat loneliness and create a supportive world.
