Humanity meets technology on social media

Social media has become an edited version of the best bits of our lives – featuring professional achievements, social adventures and an unending stream of well-lit selfies – but we’re increasingly reluctant to share the tough times.
The person struggling to lose weight shares their story only once they fit into their skinny jeans and the person who loses their job changes their status to specialist rather than unemployed. But, what about the journey along the way? The ups and downs that make life worth living.
Real life starts where social media ends and that is exactly where Incogo, a new personal online platform kicks off. Founder and creator Daniel Millin describes his latest venture, launched earlier this year, as ‘the evolution of social media that we have been waiting for.’
Incogo is a community where members share their personal journeys, from overcoming a fear of heights, planning a wedding or battling cancer, privately through invitation only groups, or publicly with anyone interested in their topic. Rather than liking a post, members support individuals on their journey and share experiences through the good, the bad and the ugly.
“The vision for Incogo is to infuse modern technology with good old fashioned humanity,” Mr Millin explains.
A self-proclaimed social media addict, Mr Millin was growing increasingly disconnected on other social platforms due to the sheer amount of noise in his newsfeeds. According to research by McCrindle 78 per cent of Australian social media users share his frustration with superficial social media use and 83 per cent of Australians are craving more meaningful digital connections.
“On Incogo people support each other much like they do in real life. It’s not about replacing these real life interactions but supporting them and fostering meaningful relationships with likeminded people on a global scale. Members are free to choose whether their journey is public to everyone or accessible by invitation only. Incogo is purpose-built for real life with privacy at its core,” Mr Millin explains.
Mr Millin has used the platform to share many of his own journeys including learning to kite-surf, buying an apartment, losing weight and even founding Incogo.
“Every time someone supports me I’m encouraged to keep going and that’s the kind of platform I wanted to create. While it’s early days the feedback has been really positive.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Tammy Velden was among the first members of Incogo. She started her journey, Pink is a part of me, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and inspired others with her positivity and honesty.
“Incogo gave me a safe space to share a very difficult part of my life with people around me who genuinely cared about what I was going through,” Tammy says.
“As I posted about my breast cancer, the encouragement I received on the platform really lifted my spirits. My friends and family also felt connected and up-to-date with my progress but Incogo took the pressure off me to have to update people individually. There’s real magic in Incogo. It caters for the real part of life, the things we are too afraid to share on social media.”
Mr Millin, an alumnus of the Faculty of Business and Economics, is not new to the world of start-ups. He found success early in his career with Mediaverse, a media evaluation firm which he grew from a one man show operating from his couch to a global practice servicing some of the world’s largest firms.
He says his entrepreneurial self-belief, coupled with a tremendous self-delusion that he cannot fail, motivate him to keep going. He is confident that Incogo will spark a new online movement towards more meaningful connections online.
Get Incogo at: www.incogo.com and Apple App Store and Google Play Store