New voice app TannOi aims to shake up social media

Two former Camden schools students are about to launch an ambitious new approach to social media. TannOi (currently available in beta for iPhone) was born from these founder’s frustrations of being misunderstood and misinterpreted online. Their solution for bringing the context back into social media communications is using the simple power of the voice.

Mark Crown is an ambassador for Camden Schools Music Service, having risen through the system during his youth to becoming a professional jazz trumpeter, touring the world with the band Rudimental, and working as a producer for the likes of J Hus. He wanted to bring the unique power of the aural experience to help the negative troll culture that has appeared online. “I wanted to create an environment where I felt my voice could be heard,” he tells us, “a place where I can communicate my thoughts, but where people can actually hear my expression.”

Mark had been working on online campaigns with his friend Ben Anderson, who also has a background in mental health.

“Working in social media within the music industry for the best part of 10 years has been like having a front row seat to some of the complex negative effects of these platforms,” says Ben of their work, “and particularly the impact on mental health,” says Ben. “I see TannOi as a platform which the community can build a more positive and authentic connection with social media, using voice.”

Unlike competitors including Clubhouse, TannOi will be focused on threads of recorded voice notes based around key communities and topics. To showcase the format, our interview with the founders took the form of two audio notes, which you can listen to here: