Ticckle is a London-based startup that allows people to post video comments on a topic and build a visual debate around them. Rather like Twitter is to social media, Ticckle only allows a 30-second window for you to get your point across (there will be no “ Leave Britney Alone ” on here, thank you very much.). It has one very high-profile fan, user, and backer: Stephen Fry .

(It’s always worth watching startups tipped by the polymath comedian, writer, actor, and presenter, a big name on Twitter. One of his startups, Summly, was bought by Yahoo earlier this year.)





One of the site’s founders, Xan Blacker, isn’t a fan of the word “debate,” and says the idea for Ticckle came from wanting to “tickle people’s brains.” But if Ticckle takes off, there could be a very welcome side effect: the eventual extinction of the bullying and trolling that goes on online. There is a huge debate in Britain at the moment on how to deal with the sexual threats of anonymous commenters on Twitter–the police are currently investigating rape threats made to MP Stella Creasy and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez on the site.

Can you see Ticckle growing into something truly significant on the web and maybe changing the face of commenting, holding people accountable for their comments? If it does–it’s currently available as an iOS app on iTunes–then maybe it will find itself on Fast Company‘s Most Innovative Companies list of 2014.

[Image: Flickr user Sham Hardy]