It’s the community, not the platform; the creators, not the consumers. We play together because we stand together.
Introducing Playground: A holistically-designed platform and social metaverse built by creators, for creators—providing them with the tools and space to thrive and connect with like-minded individuals, artists, communities and brands from across the globe.
With Playground, users can follow their favorite musicians, art galleries, comedians and more, browsing a host of communities spanning a plethora of niches and interests. Creator profiles make it easy to upload information on events to attend and materials to read, watch, and listen to, and to keep members of their community informed and engaged with content relevant to their interests and passions. Users can participate in community discovery, live online and offline events, discussion forums and more, all matching their specific interests, allowing one to connect with other creators and build lasting, enriching relationships.
Once one’s profile has been created and basic interests and information have been recorded, users can browse an expansive discovery page full of global communities and explore their shared content. From there, users can “save” or “favorite” the content most interesting to them or subscribe to receive newsletters and SMS notifications from their desired communities. Unlike discovery platforms that are purely algorithmic, Playground is designed to recommend groups, content, events and individual creators that represent a diverse and interesting mix of interests.
Playground is currently beta testing, with a public launch set for Q121. Preview their beta page HERE. Access to the platform is currently invite only.
Read founder Jia Ling Yang’s exclusive interview with TechCrunch HERE.
The Playground team introduced the platform to the public for the first time at this year’s Art Basel international art fair in Miami, Florida.
Yang set out to combine the fundamental need for connection using tools to empower next-generation creators, with a mission of creating a world where everyone belongs. She brought together a team spanning many cultural backgrounds with previous experience in the media space to develop Playground, aiming to uplift creators. “Ultimately, we hope to enable communities to curate relationships and co-create experiences,” Yang explains. “It’s about spending time well. And feeling more alive.”
“We see ourselves as the next meaningful social platform built around group features that encourage play—events, community profiles and chats. We intentionally stripped out the scrolling and filtering and passive entertainment. What’s left is a platform that empowers creators to build community and inspires people to participate,” describes Yang.
New York-based Yang is the founder and creator of Playground. A child of Taiwanese immigrants, she grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico and has an expansive background working in tech with brands such as YouTube, Google Play and Facebook. Her experience in the cultural space includes Scooter Braun’s SB Projects, E! Entertainment, Beats by Dre as well as Converse by Nike. She also worked in the gaming world, launching campaigns for Activision’s Destiny, Windows XBox, Google Play Games and Verizon 5G Labs where she collaborated with execs from Niantic, Riot Games, Dignitas, FazeClan and more. Together with entrepreneur and partner Jason Deland, Yang launched Playground with the backing of Capital A, Anomaly’s IP and venture capital arm.