Are.na is a platform for saving content, connecting ideas, and creating collections over time. It’s designed to be fairly open-ended, so people use it in a variety of ways — it’s been described as a “playlist, but for ideas,” “a virtual notebook,” or “like having an API for your mind.” It’s an online space for researching collaboratively, structuring ideas over time, and building new forms of knowledge. As a platform for sharing knowledge, Are.na is entirely categorized and connected by humans, giving it a quality that is different from nearly every other place on the web.

For the past 14 years, Are.na has worked to cultivate an experience on the Internet that is calm, thoughtful, and introspective. It is entirely funded by the people who use it — those who pay for a Premium membership, as well as the 850 people who invested in Are.na in a 2018 crowdfunding campaign.