On January 11, 2011, we incorporated PandaWhale.

It's been a long and interesting two years!

Most of our early assumptions were wrong: that OAuth is worth using instead of our own auth system, that people would want to save their Facebook and Twitter conversations, that Twitter is a useful platform for distribution, and that the Internet needs a conversation platform.

Reality is: websites should build our own auth systems, nothing on Facebook or Twitter is worth saving using anything more than screen capture technology, the amount of traffic Twitter drives rounds to zero, and there are plenty of places for people to argue with each other online.

So we've evolved.

After over a year of trying things, we released the PandaWhale.com website on March 7, 2012.

In the 10 months since then, we've been used by over a million people, and now have over 400k monthly active users. It's a rush!

We're going to keep improving what we have.

But I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to PandaWhale's users.

And Happy Birthday to PandaWhale! Who's ready to party? :)

Cheers!  

Thanks Jared! We're breaking out the confetti!

hey, this is cool!  i have been wanting to know pandawhale's birthdate and backstory.  do you have more somewhere that i can read?

Just this: http://pandawhale.com/about/story

Incorporated January 11, 2011.

Did lots of experiments. 

Launched this website March 7, 2012, and it has been growing ever since.

If you have questions I'm happy to answer them.

when did geege join the gang and how did she find you?

will she get a prize for being such an exemplary contributor?  ;)

how do you, adam, have the time to be everywhere at once? (do you sleep?)

do you read all the articles?

how do you not have spammers or trolls?

everyone on pandawhale is so respectful.  how do you keep conversations from degenerating?

why is troutgirl described as grumpy? (she doesn't look grumpy!!)

who is the other man in the photo?

i love that you incorporated on 1/11/11.  (i always try to catch the clock at 11:11 so i can make a wish!)

Greg Bolcer suggested I check out PW in ...2012? 

so, basically right after its launch in march?

I think a bit later - fall.  I don't want or deserve a prize!!!  I'm just very grateful to have such a happy place to hang out.

awww, geege... ain't that the truth?!  thank goodness for pandawhale!

The prize for being an exemplary contributor is our companyl :)

I do sleep. I'm not everywhere at once -- that's an illusion made possible by the Internet. 

I do try to read all the articles, though as Geege can attest, I sometimes forget what I've read. 

I banish some spammers and trolls every day. 

I privately talk with people I don't want to banish, about keeping the level of respectful discourse high.

Troutgirl is grumpy in real life occasionally. But she's mostly not grumpy. Just like grumpy cat.

The other man in the photo is Lucas. He built a lot of the software and occasionally posts here too.

I love that we incorporated on 1/11/11 -- I like to make wishes too!

wow, it's a lot of work to keep this place so great!

you banish the bad guys, read everything, privately keep the rudies in line, and comment kindly all over the place!

the more time i spend here, the more i like it.

and, indeed, the company is wonderful.  best prize of all!  :)

thank you, adam!!  hip hip hooray for pandawhale!

You're very welcome!

It's amazing how much knowledge we've collectively built up in just a few years.

our pandawhale party will be full of great conversation.  :)

It always is, Emily.

Celebrate!!!

(i love this party pug!!!)

All it wants to do is party hard. :)

Congratulations!

Thank you, Steve! Go 49ers!!

Congrats (very very impressive!). Thanks for sharing the insights. Same experience with OAuth for us (and I won't have to anymore feel so guilty about investing our limited resources in building the system ourselves as well)

Thank you Vivek! Lets celebrate our discovery with confetti...

Mazel tov, you wonderfully creative beings!  I love this place!!

Thank you Geege! This place loves you too!!

i love you, too, auntie geege.  :)

Sweet. :)

why are you awake at 3am?!?

Sometimes for me it's the best time to write.  And thank you!

amen, sister!

Writers gotta write. 

Congratulations guys! I like the openness with which you've been building PandaWhale, and seeing you all as frequent users of it yourselves.

Thanks Mark! What makes me happy is that the best is yet to come...

KITTEH SEZ:

I CAN B PANDA NOW?

Yes, panda kitty, yes!