Interview with Ryan Goodwin: Creator of Simler

I recently conducted an interview with Ryan Goodwin of Simler a tag-based social network.

How did you come up with the idea for Simler?

The idea for Simler was born from using other social networks like Facebook. It was really fun to reconnect with old friends for a while. But I consistently noticed that I would talk to these people once or twice only to lose touch once again. Why? Because we have nothing in common. The simple idea of creating a place for people to connect based on common interests was an obvious step. And surprisingly enough, no one else was really doing this.

So I asked myself, how would people want to connect with others based on interests? It seemed that networking around one interest at a time as well as being able to compare multiple interests other people would be the most compelling.

How long has Simler been in production?

The idea for Simler was hatched in January. I incubated the idea for another four months before starting design. Development started in June. We put the first users on in August in order to help with the proof of concept. And by October, we were open to the public—albeit in Beta.

What is Simler built on?

Simler is built on a Django framework, although we have started breaking out of Django and going straight to python in order to increase performance. Front-end technologies include JQuery, JSON, and AJAX.

Would you say that Twitter is competition?

No, we are a totally different animal. Twitter is about content publishing in 140 characters or less. Because of this, it has truly become a platform for Guru's and Groupie's. Simler is about discussion and deeper relationships based on common interests. The only real overlap is that both can be put into a social messages platform "industry." We believe that most people will continue to use Twitter to publish, while they can use Simler for more in depth discussions about any topic under the sun.

Will we be seeing a Desktop and iPhone version anytime soon?

Allowing more ways for people to participate in the discussions is most definitely in the works. We are working on an API right now to allow third parties to develop for our platform. We are also working on developing our own iPhone app to make it easier for people to participate on the go.

What's next for Simler?

In the future, the possibilities for Simler are literally endless. But our mission will remain the same: creating the easiest way for people to connect with others based on commonalities.

You can find me on Simler.