We talk less and less about how we’re actually feeling, everyone just says “I’m fine” even when they’re not. So I built a tool to make social energy levels visible between friends without needing the conversation.
Tech highlights:
- No email signup (just username + password)
- Instant friend pairing via shareable links
- Real-time status sync
- Mobile-first PWA design
- Quick action buttons (e.g., “ask for coffee”)
How it works:
You share your link → they open it and register → you’re automatically friends and can see each other’s battery levels in real time.
Live at socialbattery.space (works best on mobile, but desktop works too)
Built this because emotional state sharing shouldn’t require a vulnerable conversation every time. Would love feedback from the community.
Quick intro for those wondering how it works:
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It does ask for an email first thing, but it’s presented as just an optional backup for your account.
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Then comes the explanation I was looking for in my other comment.
Your Social Battery - Drag the dial to set how social you’re feeling — from drained to fully charged. Your friends see this in real time.
Share Your Invite Link - Tap “Share your link” and send it to friends. When they join via your link you’re connected automatically. https: //socialbattery. space/?ref={username}
See Friends’ Levels - Once connected, you both appear in each other’s friends list with live battery updates.
Then you’re plopped on this screen:
Settings lets you select a profile picture, nickname (so you can show your real or gamer name presumably, but since your username is part of the link you share it doesn’t do anything for security or privacy), and light or dark mode. ETA: I think the nickname feature should also be on a per-friend level, not global.
I think that should be sufficient to give people an idea what to expect when deciding whether to give it a try.
ETA: I am curious what happens when you don’t have the PWA open. Do your friends just perpetually see what you last selected, or is there a timeout where it’ll just say “offline” (and what is that timeout)?
I’ve made several edits/additions to this throughout, so you may want to scan it for those if you’ve already read this.
Good questions! And thanks for sharing your experience here. Much appreciated.
Here’s how it works:
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Offline status: Right now, friends see your last set level indefinitely. No timeout yet, but you’re right that an “offline/last seen X hours ago” indicator would be useful - adding that to the list.
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Nickname privacy: Yeah, the username is in the share link by design. The nickname is more for personalization (some people prefer going by a different name with friends) rather than privacy. Per-friend nicknames is an interesting idea though.
3.Keeping it updated: Fair concern. I’m betting people who actually need this will keep it current. But it is homework to do, for me as well. I’m thinking about the notification option, though I don’t want to be too intrusive in a world of constant popup notifications. The key is finding the right balance.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown of the flow, super helpful for people deciding whether to try it. I didn’t post it myself as I thought it would spoil the experience of discovering something new and fun.
Regarding spoiling the fun, were this a world without enshitification and/or corporate malfeasance that might be a good consideration. For the world we currently actually DO live in, my initial reaction is usually one of mistrust - and I strongly suspect I’m far from alone in that.
As such, I normally might’ve not ventured forth with exploring your offering, but instead waited for someone to give me more of an idea what I was walking into before potentiality giving out information I didn’t want to inadvertently. However, at the moment I came across your post I guess I was feeling gregarious enough (and less concerned with this identity since I’ve only recently created it) to toss my normal inhibitions aside, and share the kind of info I myself would have been wanting to see before taking the risk.
TL;DR: There are an number of psychological factors at play here as well as real-world concerns, so IMHO the more up-front you are in letting potential users know what to expect, the more comfortable they’ll be with giving it a shot. They’ll also be better informed about what to look for in features they might not have otherwise discovered with a quick spin.
I totally understand your concerns - to be honest, I share that same mistrust of how things work online these days. That’s exactly why I built this to be as anonymous as possible, with no data collection at all.
You’re right that I need to be more upfront, though. I’ll take your advice and be much more precise in explaining the mechanics next time so people know exactly what they’re getting into. Really appreciate the feedback and for taking a chance on it anyway!
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This is a fantastic idea! Love the concise easy-to-understand ui. As an AuDHDer, I think this will be a useful tool for keeping friends up-to-date on the likelihood of plans falling through lol
Edit to add: It would be cool to have a “busy/available” toggle too, as I could see situations where stating social battery + social availability would be useful (ie. when you’ve made plans for after work but are unsure if you’ll have the energy to follow through, could mark self as busy and update social battery accordingly throughout the day)
Thank you! Really glad it resonates with you - the AuDHD community was actually one of the main groups I had in mind while building this. The “likelihood of plans falling through” thing is so real.
The busy/available toggle is a great idea. I can see how battery level ≠ availability (you might be recharged but already committed, or drained but still down for the right person). Adding that to the roadmap! Let me know how it works for you if you end up using it.
Heck yeah, will do! Now it’s just a matter of getting my circle to actually use it lol
Edit to add: Seconding the offline status idea, it would be helpful to have a “last updated” feature so friends can know if this is up-to-date.
We talk less and less about how we’re actually feeling, everyone just says “I’m fine” even when they’re not. So I built a tool to make social energy levels visible between friends without needing the conversation.
Hmm, isn’t this kinda ironic?
Seems like an interesting concept, but unless something like this is integrated into the platform which they are using to communicate, I doubt people would use it much.
And I think I would just leave mine on 0% permanently lol
Ironic: I think the idea is to indicate how open you feel at that moment to being social. I get how doing that without actually socializing seems ironic, but I can also see how this would help avoid social interactions going needlessly bad because one participant just wasn’t in the right mood.
I have strong doubts about people keeping this up to date, however. I could see it being used as a kind of S.O.S. by someone who needs some support, but doesn’t want to impose on others who might not be up for providing it.
You’re absolutely right about the lack of integration into other platforms that actually facilitate that socialization, however.
This would be a cool thing to embed in a personal website.
Gonna need multiple batteries though
If it’s not D&D my social battery is 0%
Would be nice if your mention of the site was actually a link, although I’ll admit I’m just scrolling through “all” and have no idea if that’s against the rules in this community (which would seem silly if a self-promoting post was allowed to begin with).
ETA: some explanation, and/or demo of how it actually works in practice would also be helpful so we can decide whether we want to invest the time.
Maybe I just don’t have enough friends for this to make sense, but this makes no sense to me. If you wanna know if I’m down to hang out, just ask.
Nah show me your digital mood ring
You’re using technology to solve a psychological problem. Cool for building a portfolio, but come on.
Isn’t teletherapy the same? It can work IF done right (and, yes - that’s a BIG “if”).
