Slowly: the ‘penfriend’ app designed to make messaging more meaningful

Many of us have heard of the slow food move­ment, which has been gathering pace, in a manner of speaking, since gastronome Carlo Petrini protested the opening of fast-food chain McDonald’s in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna in 1986.

But slow digital messaging?

“Penfriend” app Slowly is designed to do just that. The brainchild of Hongkongers Kevin Wong Ho-yin and JoJo Chan Sau-wun, the app is intended to slow down communication in an age when the buzz and ding of smartphone notifications constantly demand our attention.

“In Hong Kong, the pace is very fast, almost suffocating. I’ve always felt that we need to slow down a bit,” says Wong. “Before, we would make phone calls, write letters and talk at a different pace.”

Slowly calls for more considered communication than do the likes of WhatsApp and WeChat.

Having created a nickname and avatar, inter­locutors can browse user profiles, or be matched using an algorithm that takes into account language, age, location, sex and interests. They then write letters of a minimum of 100 words (tricky for those used to 140 characters or less) which, having attached a stamp – a range is available and these can be collected – are mailed, taking anything from 30 minutes to 60 hours to reach their destination, depending on where in the world the recipient lives.

Wong came up with the idea for Slowly after recalling his enjoyment as a child of having penfriends in other countries as part of a school programme. “I don’t remember what we talked about but what has stuck in my mind is the feeling of anticipation and the unknown,” he says.

Being able to mull over exchanges for longer results in more fulfilling communication, according to Chan. “Taking it slow in conversation is very important,” she says. “Take when there’s conflict: if we’re arguing and I reply instantly, I might say something I don’t mean. If you know your reply is going to take a day, you organise yourself and digest the emotion and present yourself in a better way.”

Launched on iOS in 2017 and with an Android version arriving a year later, Slowly has struck a chord, particularly among millennials: it now boasts more than 1.4 million users and last month earned Best Breakthrough App at the Google Play Awards, in San Francisco – the first Hong Kong-created app to do so.

And when in April the founders asked users to submit stories of how they found their favourite penfriend on the app, they discovered a number of romances had blossomed. One couple, from Malaysia and the Philippines, began messaging last summer before meeting in January and getting engaged in March.

“It’s luck if you find someone you really want to talk to,” says Wong.