Press
iSawYou in brief
iSawYou is a missed-connections site: a place to post about someone you noticed in public and hope to find again, and to find out whether someone noticed you. It has been online since 1999. Rebuilt from the ground up, it relaunched at isawyou.com on 31 October 2026 with sighting zones, a page for each real place from airports and train lines to parks and campuses, and Alerts, which tell members when a new sighting might be about them. iSawYou is free to use and for adults only.
You're welcome to use this paragraph as it is.
- Online since
- 1999
- Relaunched
- 31 October 2026
- Run by
- iSawYou LLC, Port Townsend, Washington, USA
- Founder
- Varen Swaab
- Cities
- 60,647
- Sighting zones
- 23,988
- Active sightings
- 5,018
- Price
- Free to use
- Press contact
- [email protected]
How it works
- Post a sighting. Say where and when you saw someone, and what you'd like them to know. Sightings are public, tied to a city and, if you like, a zone.
- Follow the places you go. Members follow cities and zones, and Alerts tell them when a new sighting there might be about them.
- Connect. If a sighting is about you, send the person who posted it a short message. If they accept, the two of you can chat privately.
Safety and privacy
Missed connections are about strangers, so iSawYou is built to protect people as well as connect them.
- Adults only.
- Every post, photo and first message is checked automatically, and people review anything unclear.
- No personal details: no names with workplaces, phone numbers, emails, social media handles or addresses.
- Anyone a sighting is about can ask for it to be taken down, with or without an account.
- iSawYou never follows anyone's location. Alerts are based on the places members choose.
- Members chat privately only when both agree.
More in our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.
The story
The idea came over a lunch in Seattle in 1997, and iSawYou went online in 1999. It survived the dot-com crash as a one-person project and has been rebuilt every few years since. The 2026 relaunch builds something from its very first plans: a message board for every real place.
"Phones make missed connections possible, but they also keep our eyes looking down. Look up! There are people around you, and maybe one of them thinks you're cute." Varen Swaab, founder
In the news
"There is one man and one website still out there, fighting to keep missed connections alive." The Guardian, 2024
Also covered by Global Voices, Harvard Magazine, CNN and the Puget Sound Business Journal. All the articles
Logos and pictures
Free to use in coverage of iSawYou. Please don't change the logo or its colours.
The sightings in the screenshots are made-up examples, not real members' posts.
Download everything (zip, 4.7 MB)Press contact
Email [email protected]. We usually reply within one working day. Interviews with the founder are welcome.