AN EXPERIMENT, RUN BY HAND
Write to one stranger.
Pass it to one friend.
A few weeks later, someone you've never met — about three handshakes away from you — writes to you.
Ten minutes of your time, twice. No app to install. Nothing posted anywhere.
What this is
Before the internet, people passed around chain lists. You'd get a list of names, write to the person at the top, add yourself to the bottom, and hand it on. Weeks later a letter arrived from someone you'd never have met otherwise.
There's a well-known piece of research from the 1960s behind this. Volunteers were given a letter for a stranger hundreds of miles away and told they could only pass it to someone they personally knew. Most of the letters that arrived had taken about five or six hands to get there — which is where the phrase six degrees of separation comes from. Roughly three quarters of people, at each step, were willing to pass it along.
I want to find out whether that still works — whether a stranger who reached you through people you actually know feels interesting rather than creepy. That's the whole question, and it's the one thing no amount of planning can answer.
So I'm running it by hand, over WhatsApp, with twelve chains. There is no app yet, and there may never be. If this doesn't work, I'd rather find out now from forty people than after a year of building.
What actually happens to you
1
You send me a few lines about yourself
Two or three sentences — what you do, what you're into, what your week's been like. First name only. This is what a stranger will eventually see.
2
I tell you one person to write to
One name and their few lines. Not a list — one person. You won't know how they're connected to you, and they won't know either. Write them a short letter and send it to me. Photos are fine.
3
You hand the chain to one friend
You forward them a short message. They decide for themselves whether to join — you're not signing anyone up, and you don't give me their details. If you can't think of anyone, the chain simply ends. That's allowed.
4
A few weeks later, a stranger writes to you
Someone about three steps away, who got there through your friend, and their friend, and theirs. You can reply or not. If you don't, they're never told.
You get about a week at each step. If life gets in the way and you don't act, the chain quietly ends. Nobody is told it was you, and I'll only nudge you twice.
What's exposed, and what isn't
The honest version. If any of this bothers you, say no — that's a genuinely useful answer for me.
SEEN BY A STRANGER
- Your first name (or a nickname — your choice)
- The few lines you wrote about yourself
- The letter you send them
- Roughly where you are — city or country
SEEN BY NOBODY
- Your phone number — no participant ever gets another's
- Your surname
- Who your friends are. Nobody learns this, ever
- Who passed the chain to you, or who you passed it to
- Your address, age, workplace, or anything you don't volunteer
The one thing I want to be completely clear about
Because there's no app yet, I'm the postman. Your letter passes through me on its way to the other person. I won't read it properly and I'll delete it once it's delivered — but I technically could read it, and you should know that before you write anything private. Don't send me anything you'd mind me seeing.
Why nobody can work out who you know. You only ever see one person, and you're never told how they're connected to you. Your friend is never mentioned to anyone. The only new connection anyone learns about is the one they already had — the friend who handed it to them. This isn't a side effect; it's the part of the design I most want to get right.
What I keep. Your number, your few lines, and timings — when things were passed on, and whether they were. No real names in my notes; everyone is a code like P-004. It's deleted when the test ends. Ask me to remove you at any point and I'll do it that day, no questions.
What I'm actually trying to build
Every social app connects you either to people you already know, or to total strangers picked by an algorithm. There's an unused space in between: the people your friends could introduce you to but never will. Friends of friends of friends. Close enough to have something in common, far enough to be genuinely new.
Nobody can reach that space today, because asking a friend for an introduction is awkward and doesn't scale. A chain does it automatically, without anyone having to make an introduction or even know one happened.
If it works, it becomes a small app: no feed, no follower counts, no likes. Just a chain that arrives, a letter you write, and someone new at the other end.
The plan
Now — this test · four weeks · you are here
Twelve chains, run by hand over WhatsApp. I'm measuring one thing: of the people handed a chain, how many write and pass it on. I also want to talk to anyone who didn't — those are the most useful conversations.
Then — a decision
If fewer than half the people pass it on, I don't build it, and I'll tell you that's what happened. A quiet no is a perfectly good outcome for four weeks of work.
If it works — a real app
The app carries the letters, so I stop being the postman and stop being able to read anything. Hand-over becomes a QR code you show a friend. One city first, not thirty.
Later
Photos and video, chains that cross borders, and a way to keep talking to someone if you both want to. Nothing costs money, and there's no plan for ads.
Reasonable questions
Is this a pyramid scheme or an MLM?
No. Nothing is bought or sold, there's no money anywhere, and you gain nothing by passing it to more people — you can only pass it to one. Chain letters historically promised luck or money; this promises a letter from a stranger.
Will I get spam, or added to a group?
No groups — that would defeat the whole design. You'll hear from me when something happens on your chain, and at most twice more as a reminder. Then not again.
What if I can't think of anyone to pass it to?
Then the chain ends, and that's genuinely fine — it's information I need. Please don't pass it to someone out of obligation; a reluctant hand-over tells me the opposite of what I'm trying to learn.
What if the stranger who writes to me is unpleasant?
Tell me and I'll stop that chain immediately. Because every letter passes through me during the test, I see it if something goes wrong — one of the few advantages of doing this by hand. Adults only.
Do I have to reply to the stranger?
No. Doing nothing is a normal outcome and they're never told you read it. Writing to your stranger is what keeps the chain moving — replying is separate, and entirely optional.
Can I stop?
Any time, without explaining. Message me and you're out, and I'll delete what I have on you. If you'd tell me why, that's worth more to me than staying in.
If you're in
Message me on WhatsApp and tell me the name of the chain you were given. I'll reply with what to do next — it takes about ten minutes.
+00 000 000 000
And if you're not, that's completely fine — a no costs me nothing and tells me something. You won't be asked twice.
Run by {YOUR NAME}. Not a company, not funded, nothing to sign up for. Adults only.
Your details are used for this test and nothing else, never passed to anyone, and deleted when it ends. Ask me to remove you at any point and it happens that day. Questions: {YOUR EMAIL}