On iOS and Android, Spill is now in open beta

Elon Musk bought Twitter more than a year ago, and it’s still causing changes on other social platforms, even the new ones that have come up recently. Spill, a platform created by former Twitter employees, is finishing its first year and letting everyone try it out, whether they use iOS or Android.

Spill is the opposite of another platform called X, which has been making users feel left out with its rules that only include some. The founders of Spill, who became friends while working at Twitter and noticed they were the only two Black people in their employee orientation, are making a platform that values diversity right from the start.

“On other platforms, people who drive culture—like Black and brown folks, marginalized folks, and queer folks—had to work hard to make space for themselves,” said Kenya Parham, Spill’s VP of community and partnerships, in a previous talk with TheOrcTech. “We’re starting with them at the front of the line, and we believe that will make a positive community.”

Spill is like a mix of Twitter and Tumblr. It’s a platform where you can share short posts, follow people, and see a feed of updates, but it’s more focused on multimedia content. Recently, at AfroTech, Spill introduced its “Tea Party” feature, allowing users to have live conversations through audio or video. The first Tea Party featured actress Kerry Washington talking about her new memoir.

The CEO of Spill, Alphonzo Terrell, shared that the app has gained around 200,000 users in its first year since he was laid off from Twitter. Spill has raised a total of $5 million in pre-seed funding, including a recent $2 million from Collide Capital.

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While Spill might not be growing as fast as other Twitter competitors like Bluesky, Mastodon, or Threads, Terrell is not concerned about it.