What is Imzy?
Imzy was a social networking website that launched in 2016 with the goal of building communities around shared interests and passions. It was founded by former Reddit employees Dan McComas and Jessica Moreno who sought to create an alternative to Reddit that was more community-focused.
On Imzy, users could create or join interest-based forums called Imzy communities. These functioned similarly to subreddit forums on Reddit. Each community had moderators who helped facilitate discussions, enforce community rules, and cultivate an inclusive environment.
A key differentiator of Imzy was its focus on positive community interaction. It implemented features like context-specific upvoting to encourage thoughtful discussion and built-in community analytics tools for moderators. There was also an emphasis placed on supporting underrepresented voices through promoted community discovery.
The Imzy platform was very community-driven, with users themselves creating and shaping communities around their particular topic areas of interest. Popular Imzy communities covered categories like books, feminism, health support groups, niche hobbies, social activism, and more.
Though it gained some early traction among former Reddit users looking for alternatives, Imzy struggled to compete against larger mainstream networks. It eventually shut down in 2017 citing an inability to secure additional funding or generate sustainable revenue through its community-focused model.
Facebook, Tumblr, Diaspora, Friendica, FreezeCrowd, Dreamwidth Studios, Community Builder, Hubzilla, CircleCare, Scuttlebutt.nz, e-Sathi are some alternatives to Imzy.