Bond, a new social media platform, wants to use AI to help you kick your doomscrolling habit

Source: TechCrunch

Overview

Legacy social media platforms are built to keep users glued to their screens, feeding endless streams of memes and videos to maximize ad revenue. Recently, a wave of new companies has emerged that aim to combat digital burnout by encouraging real‑world experiences and avoiding addictive features such as infinite scroll.

Bond, launched on Tuesday, is one of these platforms. Co‑founder and CEO Dino Becirovic describes Bond as an AI‑powered solution to screen addiction, designed to turn online “memories” into offline activities.

How Bond Works

1. Posting Memories – Users create “memories” that can include photos, videos, or audio recordings, similar to a traditional social feed.
2. AI‑Generated Recommendations – The platform’s AI analyzes the content of a user’s memories to generate personalized, event‑based suggestions.
   • Example: Frequent posts about craving pho could trigger a recommendation for a nearby Vietnamese restaurant with good reviews.
   • Example: Interest in heavy metal might surface a notification that Iron Maiden is touring the user’s city.
3. Encouraging Real‑World Action – The goal is to prompt users to leave the app and engage in activities offline, counteracting “doomscrolling” and “bed‑rotting.”

Profile Layout

Bond’s interface resembles Instagram but replaces the endless feed with a cluster of user profiles. Clicking a profile opens the user’s current stories, which disappear from the public view after 24 hours but remain stored in a private archive. Users can search their personal memory archive at any time.

Image credit: Bond

Team

Bond’s team includes veterans from major social networks such as TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. According to the company’s announcement, Becirovic previously worked at Kleiner Perkins and Index Ventures, while founding researcher Arthur Bražinskas co‑led user‑signal integration at Google Gemini.

Revenue Model

Data Licensing

Becirovic envisions a future where users can license their own memory data to companies that need training data for AI models. Bond would take a small cut of the licensing fee, creating a revenue stream without traditional advertising.

“The idea behind this licensing model is that you can monetize your memories… we will naturally become a really attractive place for people to want to train GPT‑6, GPT‑7, and other future variants.” – Dino Becirovic

E‑Commerce Integration

Another potential revenue source is a product‑recommendation tool that integrates with e‑commerce platforms. Users could opt‑in to receive personalized shopping suggestions, allowing Bond to capture a share of transaction value through improved conversion and user experience.

Monetization Priorities

At present, Bond’s focus is on building a valuable product rather than immediate monetization. “Monetization is not a short‑term priority,” Becirovic told TechCrunch. “Our initial focus is on creating an application where users get more value the more they capture their memories.”

Privacy & Security

• Data Deletion – Users can delete individual memories via the Memory tab or by issuing natural‑language commands in Memory chat. Entire profiles can also be removed.
• Encryption – End‑to‑end encryption (E2EE) is slated for near‑future implementation. In the meantime, all user data is stored securely in the platform’s database.
• Data Use – Bond will never sell user data for advertising purposes. Any data sharing would be limited to user‑initiated licensing or opt‑in e‑commerce features.

Visuals

Image credit: Bond