Let’s make social anxiety our friend.
Updated: Dec 16, 2021
Today, we're introducing you to a brand new Loop. Scroll down to learn more about our big changes and why we made them. Spoiler alert: It was all for you.
When we introduced Loop in October 2020, we were on a mission to build a social-based experience that was good for people. Loop would be a social audio app that would have positive effects on your mental health.
What we learned about you over the past 12 months led us to the new Loop that is launching today.
We learned that you downloaded Loop because you were looking for a new way to connect with other people, you liked that we cared about your mental health, and you loved our avatars for their weirdo energy. For the most part, you got what you expected. Loop was a fun place to hang out and talk about your mental health, but you were left wanting more.
For some of you, Loop was even a little intimidating. It turns out, talking to strangers – even anonymously – was nerve-wracking, even scary. Since then, we’ve released a few features to help take some of the pressure off, and you sent us some positive feedback. In particular, you liked listener mode, which allowed you to ease into the whole live, social-audio thing. But there’s still more to do, and we’re committed to working with you to continue improving Loop together.
You can now use Loop to get a handle on social anxiety and see positive changes in your mental health.
So how did we go from starting a social audio app to an app focused on overcoming social anxiety? Well, the answer is simple: to help our Loopers. Things really changed for us after we launched our mental health assessment, and we got to know you even better. It wasn't that Loop was causing you to feel more socially anxious, we learned that you were experiencing moderate-to-high levels of social anxiety IRL too.
If you’re reading this, you may or may not be familiar with social anxiety and how it affects people’s day-to-day lives. To loop you in (pun intended), here’s a quick lesson from our mental health team:
Social anxiety is the fear of being judged by other people. It can make you feel like you aren’t good enough, smart enough, or attractive enough. People who struggle with social anxiety might feel like they’ve got nothing to offer or that they’re just going to be laughed at if they try.
Everyone gets anxious in new situations and important events, especially when we’re meeting new people. Our ancestors learned a long time ago to be a bit more on guard around new people and to avoid getting rejected. This helped us thrive when we lived in small groups. It’s also why we have such a hard time turning off TikTok — humans are wired for social connection.
But things are different now. We encounter people outside of our immediate groups all the time. And for some of us, those interactions can be really difficult. That is social anxiety.
Loop provides the space and support for you to learn new skills and build up the reflexes you need to tackle your most anxiety-inducing moments.
Loop will look and feel the same as it always has, but the way you use Loop will be different. With today’s release, using Loop will help you tackle real-life situations that social anxiety can often cause you to avoid, like Starting Conversations or Being Authentic Online.
Through a combination of specially designed loops, you’ll learn anxiety-busting skills and how to use them before you need them in the moment. Here’s how it works:
Learn Tap into short lessons to learn more about how social anxiety works and pick up skills that you can use to confidently enter tough situations.
Practice Join as a participant or a listener as our trained guides lead you through live practice sessions giving you the opportunity to experience the skills you’ve learned.
Support Connect with others who are working on overcoming their social anxiety too. Our support groups are hosted by trained facilitators to help you get the support you need to reach your goals.
You’re also getting new mental health tools to help you stay on top of your goals. With our Social Anxiety Score, check-ins, and progress tracker – you’ll now be able to see how you’re doing, learn more about what’s contributing to your social anxiety, and how you can use Loop to continue improving.
In a sea of mental health apps, Loop is the only social-based solution that’s been carefully designed for those who experience social anxiety and want to overcome it.
Tackling social anxiety often requires the courage to come face-to-face with your biggest fears. You have our promise that Loop will always be a safe space for you to talk about your mental health and the challenges you are experiencing. Our guides and hosts have been trained by a world-class team led by Dr. Ali Mattu, our Director of Mental Health, a seasoned psychologist with more than a decade of experience in treating social anxiety. On top of all of this, you have our community of kind, caring and diverse individuals who generously lend their judgement-free ears and a new perspective if/when you need it the most.
We’re introducing a weekly Loop membership that gives you access to more loops, trained guides, and support.
Our main priorities moving forward will be building tools to help you manage your social anxiety and ensuring that our mental health program helps you meet your short and long-term goals. Loop membership is $15 a week. And if you already have a Loop account, you will have unlimited access to Loop for the next 3 months. After that, you’ll be asked to start your subscription with a free 14-day trial.
Thank you for being a part of this community and for inspiring us to create positive change in this world.
We hope that you’ll download the new release today and discover how you can use Loop to see positive changes in your life. If this new version of Loop isn’t for you, that’s okay, too. We know that taking care of one’s mental health is a deeply personal journey. And we want you to know that you’ll always be a part of Loop’s journey. For that, we will be forever grateful.