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It’s kind of strange to be writing a blog in the year 2024.

In some ways it feels like the world has moved on. Does anybody actually read anymore? Most content is bite-sized, just like our attention spans.

We know that we’re capable of more than that.

In the real world, we can stay focused and present for hours. Catching up over dinner, absorbed in conversation at a party, on a weekend camping trip with friends.

At Partiful, we aspire to create more of the moments that make the real world so special. So today we’re launching this little publication in the hopes of inspiring all of us to extend our attention spans. We want to create space for a bit of thoughtful (and fun!!) content that might take longer to ponder than an Insta post.

We also think there’s a real gap in The Discourse™ these days.

“Party content” in particular seems to be languishing in the year 2015. Party inspo is stuck on Insta-perfect tablescapes and meals that take six hours to prepare. Hosting advice doesn’t take into account that some of us live in apartments.

And with fewer sources of long form content, we’re not talking as much as we should about party culture. The way we socialize is changing, but the commentary on it is limited to the occasional magazine trend piece or buried in some (probably excellent) Substacks no one can find.

We believe socializing is more important than ever, and we’re building Partiful to help you be more intentional in how you socialize. This blog is designed to be a companion to that effort, with party ideas and hosting tips you can actually use, along with commentary on what we (and our community) are seeing in today’s social culture.

So what do we think is worth talking about?

Party 101

We’re committed to delivering relatable content about How To Party. This includes party inspo (that you can actually implement), party etiquette, and guides on how to use some of Partiful’s more advanced features to turn complex logistics into easy partying.

Stay tuned for critical how-to guides like “How To Use Partiful as a Dating App,” “How to Host a Game Night When Your Friends are Toxically Competitive”, and “How To Boop Someone On Partiful Without It Coming Off As Sexual”.

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Culture

For better or for worse, parties tend to drive culture, and vice versa. We’re excited to share party trends we’re seeing, including insights from our data (some of us are old enough to remember the 🌶️ OKCupid blog, and this was not not inspired by that). But we also want to create space to talk about other cultural moments, spotlight members of our community, and talk about how party culture is changing. There’s a lot of coverage of TikTok trends, so as IRL stans we’ll probably avoid that.

But smash that subscribe button if you want to hear about “Why Mormons Are Doing Ketamine”, “What a ‘Night Out’ means in NYC vs. London”, and “Interviews With The One Woman in a Gay Friend Group”.

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IMHO

We were going to call this “hot takes” but we wanted to be inclusive to all takes, not just hot ones. This is a space for rants, passionate defenses, and hills we will die on. Thankfully, everyone seems to have a lot of these.

We’re grateful to be offering a space for takes like, “We All Need To Dress Up More,” “It’s OK To Be A Fuckboi”, and “In Defense of Second-Tier Friends”.

We’re fortunate to have a vibrant, diverse community of partiers, and we want to offer you a platform that enriches your time online the way Partiful enriches your time offline.

We’re excited to give you a space to share how you’re partying, building community, forming friendships, making memories, and sometimes being a little unhinged.