Sober Social Networks

You spend all day looking at screens — your phone, your computer, your tablet, your watch. Your life takes place online as much as it does in the physical world, and your recovery shouldn’t be forgotten when you reach for your iPad. We have covered a lot of great Apps here on the Mountainside blog, but if you are anything like us, our favorite part of being connected is connecting with other people on social networks.

Recovery Groups

Many of the tried and true support groups that you may attend in person have some on-line areas for people to use to share their stories and interact with other people. Some of these areas are better and more active than others. SMART Recovery has an active online community, with message boards and a chat function. Narcotics Anonymous has ways to connect to other people too. Unfortunately, Alcoholics Anonymous doesn’t have much of a social presence online due to their long standing policy of “anonymity at the level of press, radio, and film,” but to fill the void, lots of sites have popped up as unofficial places to chat and connect with others.

Sober Networks

Many sober specific networks have sprung up to meet the needs of the community. While many of them are a lot like other larger social networks, they have extra features and focused communities that make signing up for another social network worth it. And unlike other networks you might already be on, sober social networks put emphasis on allowing users to remain anonymous and protect their privacy.

In The Rooms is one of the oldest and largest of the sober networks. They boast a community of more than 350,000 users, with 1.5 million combined sober years. The site offers many standard social media features and then hosts activities you can do in real time with others like video meetings and guided meditations. The people who belong to the network seem friendly and inviting: As soon as I signed up, I got a number messages from people.

Recently featured in our Alumni Newsletter, the Clean Fun Network, is part social network, part on-line dating site, and part travel agency. The site is dedicated to hosting sober travel events, and there is a social network side to the site, which allows you to invite other users to events, post statuses, and connect with people one on one.

The mobile-only Sober Grid was created as a way to find other sober people in the real world around you. The recently launched, slick-looking app comes with some interesting features like “Find a Ride” and a “Burning Desire” flag that you can enable in case you need help. You can download it on the App Store or Google Play Store.

Finally, for those of you who want to connect with Mountainside you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Stay connected!