Berlin-based startup Periwinkle is shaking things up on the social media front. Founded by one-time McKinsey software engineer Charles Blumenthal, the company is rapidly evolving into an essential service provider in this new space. This creative new platform allows anyone to design their own customized, self-hosted social media environment. It gives people more power to escape the tech monopolies’ walled gardens. Blumenthal’s bill would offer an overdue, realistic alternative for consumers who want more control over their online communication and personal information.
Our launch of Periwinkle also coincides with increased public interest in safe, decentralized social media platforms. The success of Bluesky, an application powered by the same AT Protocol that Periwinkle utilizes, highlights this trend, as Bluesky has amassed over 43 million registered users. Blumenthal thinks a growing public awareness. Here’s what we’re seeing in terms of awareness. With this growing awareness, the market for Periwinkle’s services will only keep expanding.
Periwinkle has plans available for all levels—individual, pair, group—or whatever works for you. This includes a free option for users to get started with at 500 MB of included storage. If you need more bells and whistles, explore the Basic Plan. It’s available starting at $4/month and includes support for up to five handles and 5 GB of cloud storage. This plan includes real-time backups so you’re even more protected. You can optionally host your public data in the European Union or the United States. For users requiring even more capacity, Periwinkle presents two premium options: a 25 GB Pro Plan for $14 per month and a 50 GB Team Plan for $30 per month. Both premium plans include additional features like support for up to 25 handles, advanced data retention and additional capabilities.
Charles Blumenthal emphasizes the importance of user autonomy in social media platforms. Here’s how he summed up the present state of play, warning that.
“It’s really not a great idea that a couple of billionaires have control over the way billions of people communicate.”
He feels strongly that now, more than ever, users need to be their own catalysts for controlling their data and social experience.
Blumenthal doesn’t just want to deliver services. He hopes to build a powerful community around it that allows users to easily transition from traditional platforms such as Twitter to Periwinkle without losing their followers or hard-earned content. He poses a thought-provoking question about user experience:
“If you could leave Twitter to some competitor and all of your followers and all of your content and everything — it just is there with you, and you just log in — you would do it right?”
Blumenthal is now the sole founder of Periwinkle. While personally self-funded so far, he’s looking for European investor partners to help the startup get more resources for faster growth.
Periwinkle’s innovative, grassroots approach is particularly important right now in social media’s history. As more users demand greater agency in their digital lives, platforms like Periwinkle will come to occupy a more prominent role as the default home online. Periwinkle builds on the AT Protocol and provides self-hosting or cloud hosting in a per-user pricing model. This method goes beyond just disrupting the norm, it transforms the very way people connect with each other online.
