Isa Watson, founder and CEO of social media platform Squad, joins Cheddar News to discuss her app and how it's aiming to deepen relationships on social media.

Between Bells

Squad Founder Talks About Her App And How to Utilize Social Media Properly

friends Welcome back to Between Bells, I baker machado and new york Over the years, mental health has taken center stage that as it comes from a time where mental wellness issues were looked down upon from removing the stigma all to advanced technology that's granting people more access to proper healthcare. However, at the same time, social media has stunted many. That is, it wreaks havoc, leading users with superficial relationships, addiction to screen time and even searching for even more likes as a result. However, one audio based social app is now aiming to help millions of people who deepen their relationships and their friendships the healthy way all on social media. So helping us break this all down is Aissa Watson, the founder and Ceo of Squad. Congratulations. Thank you so much for joining us on this amazing sort of moment you've had, You basically now are the highest fundraising black woman in America. You just raised over $7 million squad. For those who may be hearing about it for the very first time. Yes, so squad is an app that allows people to create a voice only world within their closest friends, sending messages, exchange updates, live calling. Um, but the reality is that and only up to 12 people by the way in our, in the social media age, we've actually become so complacent with the concept of online friends that we've neglected our real friends in a, in a big way. And so Squad makes it super easy and super fun for people to stay connected to their closest friends every day. Okay, so how are you actually doing that? How is squad sort of helping bridge this gap between the way we sort of present ourselves on social media and the way that we actually sort of feel because those two are very, very, very different things. Yeah, 100%. 1st of all, 90% of users of social media are just lurkers. They're not interacting, they're not posting. Um, and social media has become a content platform as opposed to a connection tool. And with squad, it's literally your own private world of your closest 12 friends voice only. You don't have to have your face beat or anything like that. Um, where you know, we're exchanging like very close things about our lives, our daily lives. Um, you know, having really fun interactive calling, but allowing users to create that world that feels safer. They participate, not the world online where they just lurk has been really, really amazing for our users. Now. Blue cross blue shield is saying millennials have actually seen a 47% increase in major depression diagnoses. And that's just since 2013, why are we sort of seeing this increases this directly correlated to social media usage here? It is directly correlated to social media use. And quite frankly social media has really contributed to the loneliness epidemic. Right? And so prior to the pandemic, a third of millennials have reported uh, feelings of loneliness or feeling that they didn't have any friends Two years later, that number is 2/3. Right? And so when you're looking at social media and you just endlessly scrolling and this content platform of people's perfected lives in their highlight reels. That doesn't lead you to actually want to go out and socialize. It makes you feel a little bit bad about yourself. So there's a lot of self esteem, a lot of depression and a lot of loneliness. Um, that has really kind of come out of our social media habits, even the fomo factor, all of that stuff. So what are some of your top tips for successful social, social media usage? Is it really only looking at our squad? Only sort of those close friends? Well obviously I'm a big fan of squad, I love being on the app every day, but I think that, you know, we can actually use social media in a healthy way. We just need to elevate our awareness. So one of the things I always say is make sure that with your friends, you assume don't assume that social media is our whole story. I've had so many friends where they're posting beautiful photos of their babies and I call them and they're like, oh my God, I'm having an anxiety attack, right? Um, so check in on your friends, that's the first one. The second one is um, you know, we live in this world of scarcity, right, dr Burnett Brown, my favorite psychologist. She says she's amazing. The first thing we think about in the morning is man, I didn't get enough sleep. The first thing we think about when we go to bed is man, I didn't get enough done. And so taking an hour away from social media when we wake up and before we go to bed allows us to just ground without like this comparison content, you know, habit that we've had. Um, and the third thing I always recommend to people is D. M. Or you know, scrolling is so easy. My two year old God daughter, she, she just gets on my phone and she scrolls and I'm like, I don't even know how to do that to. Um, but make sure that you're leveraging, you know, in social media, the connection oriented features, you know, and also, you know, squad is great too. But you know, you bring up a good point about the D. M. S because that's sort of the whole premise about what we're supposed to be on social media for is connecting with our friends yet we're looking at, you know, a different lifestyle or things that we wish we were like that are unattainable in many ways. Most people are telling me that they do not talk to difference on social media, that's so crazy. Most people tell me they don't talk to our friends. So the average millennial or gen z or in the US apparently has nine social media accounts and studies now show that people who use seven or more social sites have a greater than three time risk of depression and anxiety. So how do users sort of implement your tips starting now? Starting now there was a U penn study that said if the optimal time use social media day is 30 minutes, if you find yourself that you're in that three hour gap, try to take baby steps like instead of at the beginning of the day, at the end of the day, just don't use social media before you go to bed and then do it, start adding like when you wake up in the morning and then start adding, you know, and I think that the point is that we have taken the time away from our actual friends in our real life and replace that with social media. So the reality is like actually tapping back into your life and that was the whole premise of squad allowing people to like really just hone in with their actual friends and for some social media is a way obviously to deepen relationships. So how do you sort of teach people to use social media the proper way for more healthy relationships as a result of that? Yeah, I think one of the things is, you know, vulnerability, I'm not saying share all your business, but it's okay to say, man, I had a rough week this week and I'm actually really happy. I'm just sitting here home with my dog. You know, nothing happens everybody else by the way is doing that too. Anyway. So that's totally okay. Right? And you know, it's so funny. Like when I started sharing more open stores and social people are like, oh my God, me too, me too. And I'm like, that's not, that's never what I see on your feet, right? You know, you're out like having the time of your life 100%. Right. Um, and then, you know, I think that, yeah, I think that's one of the big things and again, that DM part making sure you're connecting with people as opposed to just looking at people's great lives. As I mentioned earlier, the highest fundraising black woman in America, which is an incredible, incredible feat. What sort of your message or advice to those who seem defeated who are looking for fundraising for themselves because we know marginalized communities, especially black women. It is very, very hard to get funding out there. Raising money as a black woman is definitely hard. Um, and when you step into a room, people are not like, it's like, wait, I didn't expect you. Right. Um, and so I think a few things. One is doubling down on your storytelling and I think a lot of women and minorities in particular. We've been taught that merit is the thing that really gets you to the next place. But making sure you're able to tell a big story of a multibillion dollar idea. Um, is the first thing. And the second thing is, you know, being able to leverage your networks. Um, you know, I went to M. I. T. And I know you know that they have a great network. I know not everyone has that, but I just leverage and leverage and leverage. And I will tell you baker that I actually had like 300 doors slammed in my face before anyone in Silicon Valley took me seriously. And now I have people knocking on my door, but it just really took that consistent, you know, and persistent behavior of you know, expanding my network storytelling but also focusing on attraction of the app and doubling down on the value proposition. It only takes one person to say yes, that's all you need is a Watson. Such a pleasure to have you here. The founder and ceo of squads. So amazing what a great story