Letterboxd, a beloved film review and social media platform that took off during the pandemic, has been acquired. Its new owner is a Canadian holding company called Tinywhich promises a “fast, friendly and simple” process for founders looking for “quick and simple exits”.

Letterboxd has been around since 2011, founded by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, and has grown its user base to around 10 million people – a drop in the bucket compared to bigger, louder sites, but which are home to movie buffs, critics and even a few celebrities.

The app is both a social network and a personal diary: users can also record the movies they watch, write reviews, comment and like their friends’ entries. If you see all your friends reviewing something, you can add it to your watchlist for later. There is also a company-run blog where journalists and other writers publish essays, interviews and other articles.

The basic level of Letterboxd is free but includes ads. For the truly dedicated, an annual paid option of $19 offers an ad-free experience and year-end watchlists, similar to Spotify Wrapped.

In the Times In the story announcing the sale, a Tiny founder said Letterboxd’s new owners had no plans to change the business model. But Letterboxd’s founders say the acquisition will help the company grow and add more features: eventually, it will include the ability to rewatch TV shows in addition to movies.

“Aside from the change in ownership, and consistent with Tiny’s core operating values, very little will change,” Buchanan said. wrote in an ad. “Karl and I still lead the team, which remains the same, but now has the added support of a company with extensive experience helping founders during growth periods, which Letterboxd continues to benefit from.”

Like millions of others, I joined Letterboxd when the pandemic confined me indoors and traditional social media felt particularly overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. As Fran Hoepfner wrote in The Washington Post Earlier this week, Letterboxd is what you want, a digital newspaper on your own terms – you can follow people and comment on their reviews or not. You can wisely record everything you see (like several of my friends) or forget to record movies for three months and then start again (like me).

The platform has seen little change over the past ten years, which may be why people love it so much. There are no fleeting features or algorithmically manufactured rage. Your movie diary is for you or your friends or no one in particular – your choice. Let’s hope it stays that way.