The Death of “Social” in Social Media

The most striking claim Teddy Solomon makes in this podcast is that traditional social media - whether Instagram or TikTok - is no longer social. It’s just media. And I fully agree.

These platforms have become performance sports. People view them as entertainment, no different from Netflix. Your feed is dominated by influencers, celebrities, and people doing all sorts of things for views. The actual social connection? Gone.

Enter Fizz: Closed Communities and Pseudo-Anonymity

This is the gap Fizz is targeting. Rather than competing on the entertainment front, they’re doubling down on what social media was supposed to be: social.

Their approach has two key components:

1. Closed Communities: Fizz launches one college campus at a time. You can’t just download the app and join - you need to be part of a launched university. This gatekeeping ensures everyone in your community shares real context with you.

2. Pseudo-Anonymity: Once you’re verified and in, you can maintain anonymity. This removes the performance pressure. You’re not tied to your personal brand. You can freely express opinions without worrying about how it reflects on “you.”

It’s a hybrid model: verification at the gate, anonymity inside. They expect you to behave (you can still be banned), but the social pressure to perform is lifted.

Moderation Is Where the Money Goes

Of course, any social network lives or dies by moderation. Fizz apparently uses 7,000 volunteer student moderators plus AI to keep things civil. This is where they spend most of their energy, time, and money. Makes sense - the discussions are the product, and toxic discussions kill communities fast.

This Matches My Own Experience

I’ve found traditional social media increasingly useless. What actually delivers value? Private communities - whether Slack workspaces or WhatsApp groups. These have an incredibly high signal-to-noise ratio.

Why? Because they have:

I’m part of at least three such communities that are genuinely valuable to my thinking and work. The barrier to entry is what makes them work. It ensures the community is a safe space for expression while also ensuring contributions are high-quality and further the discussion.

Fizz is applying this same pattern to Gen Z on college campuses. The university verification is their entry barrier. The anonymity removes performance anxiety. The heavy moderation keeps it healthy.

Why New York, Not Silicon Valley?

One unexpected detail: Fizz is based in New York, not the Bay Area. Solomon explained they wanted to be closer to high-growth consumer startups, mentioning Kalshi (the prediction markets company) as an example.

This surprised me. I always assumed consumer-focused startups gravitated toward Silicon Valley - the Metas and such. But apparently there’s a different energy for consumer apps on the East Coast now. Something to watch.

The Bigger Pattern

The underlying thesis here is that we’re seeing a bifurcation in “social media”:

Fizz is betting the second category has been neglected and that Gen Z (and Gen Alpha entering college) are hungry for it. Given my own drift toward private communities, I think they might be right.