Writing letters
A demonstration account. Real members' letters are private and are never shown.
Letters, not messages
A thread here looks like correspondence rather than chat. People write a few hundred words at a time, sign off, and wait. Members can set a minimum length on their own profile, so if someone only wants letters of fifty words or more, the site enforces it politely on their behalf — a two-word reply simply will not send.
The panel on the right shows what time it is where the other person is, what the weather is doing, and how far away they are. It is a small thing that changes how you write: it is easier to picture someone when you know it is already dark there.
Photos, video letters and sealed questions
Under the writing box are the things you can send besides words. Photos, which can be set to open once for ten seconds if you would rather they were not kept. Video letters, which always travel by airmail and are reviewed by a moderator. And the sealed question — both of you answer the same question, and neither answer unseals until both are written, like opening envelopes at the same moment.
Safety sits in the thread, not in a policy page
The amber note in the screenshot appears above every conversation with someone who has not yet verified themselves on video. It says what it says on purpose: never share your address, your phone number, passwords or money, and report anything that feels off. Blocking is one click, reporting is two, and a report reaches a human.
Members under eighteen and adults are kept in entirely separate communities. They do not see each other in Discover, cannot send each other a connection request, and cannot write to each other at all.