Likes, reels and posts 24/7. The world is hyperconnected, but also overflowing with negativity on social media, and tennis is one of the sports that suffers most from it.
For years, most players on tour have spoken openly about experiencing personal attacks online. “We lament it when we see players or people suffering from mental health issues, but we’re not surprised by the amount of hate and ‘experts’ there are online,” Paula Badosa said a few months ago, becoming the latest player to speak out about the issue.
While communities on platforms such as X, Reddit and Discord often focus on hate and criticism of players, others are trying to break away from that narrative with a different approach.
One of them is Standm, a new mobile app that connects tennis fans who share a passion for the same player, either through one-to-one chats or in small groups of up to 15 people.
“I wanted to facilitate communication in a more positive way, rather than what happens on X, where you often see people posting negative things about someone. I also wanted people to be able to connect with other fans much faster, rather than simply seeing someone and not really knowing how to start a conversation,” Henry Shear, the creator of Standm, told CLAY.
Universal but personal
Shear, 24, and a graduate of Vanderbilt University, envisioned Standm as a product that could bring fans together while also addressing loneliness, one of the major problems facing modern society.
That is why he also sought to tackle one of the biggest barriers to communication: language.
The app, which launched just a month ago, already has eight languages — English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese — available in its interface, automatically translating messages so fans can communicate seamlessly.
“It’s an incredibly global sport. There are a lot of fans in China, India and Spain, and if I want this to grow, I have to connect them. Having that functionality is really important because it allows us to make sure people can connect,” says Shear, who has built the website virtually on his own.
Why did he opt for groups of no more than 15 people? Because Shear does not want Standm to become just another stream of comments about whether Carlos Alcaraz can win the US Open after four months out injured.
“There are studies that show that the more you expand on social media, the harder it becomes to have an interpersonal relationship. The more massive the relationship becomes, the more it shifts from interpersonal to transactional,” he adds.
“We talk sports a lot, but also discuss things going on in life, so I’d say it’s been a real connection, even if it isn’t an in-person one,” Zac Robinson, a Standm user who participates in Taylor Fritz and Karolina Muchova groups, told CLAY.
“I have made four real connections with other people who follow the same players I do. I cheer for their favourites, especially Carlos Alcaraz, and they cheer for Madison Keys with me. I’m excited to chat with them because I’m learning a lot about other players,” adds Lorie Hale, a 70-year-old user who has found companionship through watching tennis thanks to the app.
A safe space
Keeping the community together and leaving no room for cyberbullying is one of Standm’s main missions.
“I have AI-powered chat moderation in place. When someone says something or posts a photo that is really inappropriate, other users don’t even see the message: it’s taken down and I’m notified directly. Users can also report someone if they see a really toxic dynamic or if someone says something truly awful. I’m very committed to making sure nothing like that happens,” explains Shear, who also actively participates in several groups on the app.
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These tools help sustain Standm’s main point of difference: “I don’t want someone to have an interaction on the app and then feel empty, dull or sad afterwards. I want them to think, ‘I don’t know if I could have had that conversation anywhere else.’ I want Standm to have the same kind of name recognition as X or Reddit, but also to simply bring people joy,” says Shear.
The goal: travelling the world
Designed as an app to connect fans, Standm is already looking beyond that: bringing that sense of closeness and friendship to tournaments on tour. It is an idea for the future, but one that is already generating excitement among its users.
“Why not consider travelling to a tournament with my Standm friends? Heck yes, I would go in a heartbeat. That would be epic,” Lorie told CLAY.
Robinson is also open to the idea of travelling to a tournament: “I’ve never been to a tournament, mainly because I don’t know any fans serious enough to go in person. I think that would be a huge benefit of the app, bringing together a community of fans. I absolutely love attending sports events in person, and a new community of people would make it even more fun.”
In the future, Shear hopes to establish relationships with the same tournaments and act as a bridge for users to take their conversations into real life.
“My main goal is to get people talking in person through this, and going to tournaments. For them to meet each other, feel more connected and for us to help combat loneliness,” says Shear.
Standm does not just want to connect people. It wants to take the conversations they have on their phones and bring them into the stands at the biggest sporting events in the world.
