civicly is civic, civil conversation. The kind democracy was founded on.

More concretely, civicly is a text message-based service that connects Americans for 1:1 conversations about our country.

I built civicly because I believe we have a serious problem—we’ve become far too divided as a country. Democracy means disagreement, but it doesn’t mean we have to treat each other like enemies.

One of the biggest roots of this division is “informational isolation.” It’s all too common to have our opinions echoed back to us by the media we consume, by our friends (and our Facebook friends), and even by where we live. And it’s all too easy to end up in an informational bubble that limits what we’re able to see.

These bubbles isolate us, and cause us to drift apart, becoming more and more sure that what we are seeing is the truth and that anyone who sees things differently must be crazy. This has weakened our democracy, which requires a foundation of trust, respect, and some degree of mutual understanding.

There’s a simple solution to this problem—we need to start talking to each other again.

Upon signing up, you’ll receive a welcome text from a (630) number. This is civicly. You interact with civicly via text message.

Within a few days of signing up, civicly will randomly connect you with another American—your first conversation partner. You’ll know you’re connected when you get a couple messages that look like this:

[civicly] Now connected to Ben S, your compatriot for the next 4 days. Say hi!

Remember, we're all here for civic, civil conversation.

[civicly] Here's a question to get you started:

How are we doing as a country?

Once you’re connected, any texts you send to civicly will automatically be forwarded to your partner. Texts that your partner sends to civicly will be forwarded on to you. You know a text is from your partner when—unlike the system messages above—it doesn’t start with [civicly].

Over the next 4 days, you and your compatriot have the opportunity to talk, citizen-to-citizen, about whatever you decide needs talking about. The best conversations often occur after someone asks an open, honest question.

At the end of the 4 days, civicly disconnects you from your partner. Then there’s a 3-day break before you’re connected to someone new.

By making a habit out of these conversations, you expose yourself to the real range of views and experiences your fellow Americans have, and engage in the kind of civic conversation democracy depends on.

civicly is currently in beta. To join, send an email to ben@civicly.us with the word “Join” in the subject.

Valid concern. Talking heads yell at each other on TV, commenters yell at each another on the internet, family members have been known to yell at each other on Thanksgiving! Why would civicly be any different?

First, because civicly sets out to be different.

Every person you connect with on civicly has made the same promise—to communicate using respect. Every interaction you have begins with a reminder that civicly conversations are two things: civic and civil. The whole idea is to establish a space where we can talk to each other like citizens.

And second, because civicly is structured differently than those other forums.

Political discussions on the internet tend to get nasty because it’s too easy to forget the person behind the comment. When you’re connected with someone on civicly, you see each other’s names (e.g., Ben S), you begin by introducing yourselves, and for 4 days you have a direct connection to each other.

Political discussions on TV (or even at Thanksgiving dinner) tend not to get anywhere because of the effect an audience can have. civicly conversations are 1:1, so there’s no one to impress, and no one to cheer on uncivil behavior.

No. Your conversation partner will only see your first name and last initial (e.g., Ben S).

It’s up to you! civicly is designed to be something we can all participate in, regardless of how busy we may be.

You don’t need to write essays to your conversation partner, or be in constant communication throughout the 4 days. Far from it! We all have lives, and everyone has a different schedule.

If you exchange a thought or two with your partner during the time you’re connected, that’s enough!

Of course, if you and your conversation partner have the time for a more in-depth discussion, that conversation might be especially rewarding.

The most important thing is to stick with it. civicly is less about any single conversation and more about the cumulative effect of the exchanges you have over time.

Texts that start with [civicly] are system messages, as opposed to messages sent by your conversation partner. One example is the text you get to notify you that you’ve been connected with a new partner:

[civicly] Now connected to Ben S, your compatriot for the next 4 days. Say hi!

Remember, we're all here for civic, civil conversation.

Unlike messages sent by your partner, you can’t respond to [civicly] messages directly. If you have a question, problem, or idea for civicly, please email me at ben@civicly.us

Your engagement level gives you a sense of how active you’ve been lately. civicly sends it out to you at the end of every round.

It’s based on the number of your last 5 conversations where you reached out to your conversation partner within 24 hours of the start of the round. The first message is always the toughest, but it’s also the most important. The engagement level indicator is meant to provide a bit of encouragement in a not-too-serious way.

Here’s the list of possible values:

0	☁️
1	🌥
2	⛅️
3	🌤
4	☀️
5	???

If you just joined civicly, you’ll see a 🐣 until you’ve had your first 5 conversations.

civicly doesn’t support picture/video messages, but you could always send your partner a link to the content you want to share.

Emoji are fair game too 😄

During a conversation, civicly occasionally sends out news headlines. They look something like this:

[civicly] (Reuters) U.S. warns public about attacks on energy, industrial firms goo.gl/DGNfhm

Each one is the Reuters top story at the time it is sent. That odd-looking URL at the end is just a Google-shortened link to the article.

Should you read the linked article? Up to you! civicly sends these out simply as a (potential) spark to conversation. If a headline grabs you in some way, say something to your partner about it!

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Shoot me an email! I can be reached at ben@civicly.us

Text "Stop" to civicly to have your account immediately and permanently deleted.