Our Social Mission

Acceset is a platform that caters to people from all walks of life to connect through journaling. We are committed to reinvesting more than 50% of our current and future profits into our social mission of creating a safe, diverse and skilled network for people to connect anonymously.

Our Values

Risk-Taking

The courage to act on imperfect information rather than concede to uncertainty and settle for inaction and status quo.

Empathy

A fundamental need and pursuit for meaning over profits and value creation for others.

Transparency

The practice of visible planning, communication and problem-solving across a variety of contexts.

Respect

The tolerance for diverse and competing needs, as well as respect for each other's time and contributions.

Patience

An intentional focus on long-term growth and appreciation of human capital to reinforce the culture of learning, excellence and innovation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Dating

The feature enables singles who are open to dating to match with and interact with other singles outside of their existing social circle.

You will be able to indicate whether you are open to dating when you register on the platform. This answer can be changed anytime in the avatar page. When you indicate ‘yes’, you will be asked which gender you would like to match with, age preferences (upper and lower limit) and religion preference. Subsequently, you will need to write one friendship letter in order for us to be able to market your content to prospective singles on our network who match your criteria and vice-versa. You can write up to 10 friendship letters at any given time that will serve as your “profile” for the prospective single matches who will be shown your letter and vice-versa.

We’ll recommend you letter profiles based on your indicated preferred gender, age range and religion in a partner. However, these criteria have to be mutually matching for both of you before both of you will be shown each other’s friendship letter. If you are interested in the letter profile, you can indicate your interest to start a conversation with the other party by “swiping right” or “green tick”-ing the letter. Once you and the other party “green tick” each other’s letter, both of you will be able to directly message each other.

To begin with, both of you will unlock a chat function to chat with each other. In the chat window, to set the context, you will be shown the letter you liked, and they will be shown your letter they liked. Basic demographic details of your match, such as age, gender, religion preferences, which are used in the matching process, will be shown at the top of the chat window. Similarly, your match will be able to view your demographic details too at the top of their chat window.

Yes! However, that would be a friendship match instead of a dating match.

Each letter would indicate below the gif title in green, whether the letter is from a potential friend or date. In addition, if it is a dating match, both you and your match’s avatar will have a red heart. If it is a friendship match, both of your avatars will not have a red heart.

Click on the avatar at the top of the page. On the same page, you will be able to adjust your dating criteria. If you indicate that you are open to dating, what you will see is an avatar holding a red heart. On the other hand, if you opt out of the ‘open to dating’ function, what you will see is an avatar without the red heart.

No worries! Just click on the avatar at the top right of the page. You will be able to turn off the option “Open to dating” on the same page. Once the option has been turned off, the letters presented on your stack will be from users who are solely looking for platonic relationships. Happy matching!

Click on the red flag at the top right of the chat window. You will be required to add one keyword to your safety list and subsequently you can select the option to block the other party. Once you block the user, it would be a permanent arrangement whereby you cannot see their chat and new letters and vice-versa. Blocking, or unmatching, is a permanent action that cannot be undone.

Yes, however, they will not receive instant notifications. Instead, it would be a notification for collated messages your potential date has received, once a day at 5pm SGT (GMT+8). We chose this method of notification because we respect our user’s time and wish to avoid flooding their email boxes.

Yes! However, that would be a friendship match instead of a dating match.

Befriending

When the platform receives a new seeker letter for the befrienders, we take it as a request for help and anonymous emotional support. Registered befrienders and moderators will then receive an email notification immediately to notify them of a new seeker in need of assistance. The first befriender and moderator who takes up the letter will work hand-in-hand to support you. Moreover, if you’re worried about safety, we assure you that only the befriender and moderator who initially took up your letter request will be able to view your letter content and engage in any subsequent exchanges with you. This privacy feature is designed to protect your content from unnecessary exposure.

There are no expiry dates.

We cannot guarantee a reply each time you write as the support is offered on a voluntary basis.

The befrienders and moderators come from organizations that we have partnered with. Befrienders have basic peers support training while moderators have counselor certifications.

We currently work directly with organizations to engage their volunteers. Unfortunately, we do not work with individual volunteers or handle volunteer management. However, if you still wish to work with us in other ways, do write to us at postoffice@acceset.com!

Friendship

A friendship letter is a public letter that other potential friends could view. From there, they can decide whether to “green tick” as an indication of wanting to be your friend. Each friendship letter is available publicly for some time before it becomes privatized. Once a friendship letter is privatized, it would no longer be available for other potential friends to swipe and like.

You will be shown different letters on your letter stack based on common topics, and motivations with the other party. If you like the other person’s letter, you can “green tick” (or swipe right) the other person’s letter. Once you and the other party “green tick” each other’s anonymous friendship letter - then congratulations! You have a friendship match! From there, both you and the other party will be able to see each other’s friendship letters and chat with each other.

We designed this process to enable new online friendships to form in a personalized and scalable way. Our key focus is enabling strangers to articulate their interests, and for strangers with common interests to be discovered on the platform and have the opportunity to match with each other. Another key difference is our integration with Singpass, which gives us the ability to make the platform experience safer for verified users, by separating verified communities from non-verified communities within the platform.

There is no limit to the number of friends you can make. The only limitation is both parties have to like each other’s friendship letter before a friendship match can form.

Yes, but you will know that that letter is from your friend because the design of the letter is different as compared to friendship letters from strangers. One difference to look out for is the icon on the bottom left page of the letter. If you see a tick and cross, that means the letter is from a stranger. If you see an option for you to chat, that means the letter is from your friend

We respect our user’s time and will only send an email notification, once a day, at 5pm SGT (GMT+8), if they have unread chat messages. Otherwise, we’ll not send anything to avoid flooding their inbox with email notifications!

Yes! You will be able to view letters from potential friends based on location proximity. You will be informed at the start of the letter whether you are reading a letter from a potential or existing friend/date, and whether this friend may be nearby.

We do not have the function to filter potential friends through identity data as it would diminish the diversity of experience that we can offer to all users. Instead, the primary filter for all users is the relatability and relevance of friendship letters.

Security

We collect information indicated in your registration form (such as your email, gender, age, religion, partial identification number, marital status etc.), as well as information you create on the platform, such as the letters and chat content, to facilitate matches and communication between users. We do not collect or track cookies or any information for Acceset as part of our privacy policy.

The information collected is only used to facilitate matches and communications between users, to support any police investigations initiated by our users, improve platform safety and optimize product and outreach efforts.

It is optional, whether or not you choose to sign-up using Singpass. We will separate Singpass users from non-Singpass users to give greater protection for verified users as their information is authenticated and they can be held accountable in the event they engage in cybercrime on the platform. For unverified users, we do not have the same information to hold them accountable if they engage in cybercrime. The potential exposure to risks for unverified users is higher as compared to a verified community, which is why we separated both groups so as not to compromise the safety standards that verified users expect from the platform.

You will still be able to access the platform as an unverified account holder.

Our primary responsibility is to keep users using all the tools within our disposal. Censorship (see the ‘writing’ section) is one such tool. User verification with national digital identity systems is another. We store all data created on our platform, in case there is a cybercrime committed on the platform, and victims need that data as evidence to press charges against perpetrators. We also implement the latest methods to protect our user data and securitize our digital setup against sophisticated cyber attacks aimed to steal our user data. Things like password salting, honey pot and bloom filters go a long way. We do not carry out financial transactions or collect financial data from users. If we ever have a transaction-based service in the future, we will integrate with third-party providers so that the financial data of our users will be stored separately.

The law in Singapore covers sexual offences such as Rape, Sexual Assault, Outrage of modesty, sexual molestation, Voyeurism, Sexual Grooming or Sexual Comunication. In particular, it is an offense to send anonymous messages which amount to criminal intimidation. Another type of offense covered in our law is harassment and intimidation, under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA) 2014. POHA has been updated and enhanced over the years to provide greater protection for victims of harassment, making it simpler for them to obtain relief. A POHA court is also sited in the States Courts to deal with all harassment matters, and provide expedited applications and hearings (within 24 hours to 72 hours) for urgent cases.

More details are in our ethics protocol at the bottom of the website.

Moreover, sexual communication with a minor below 16 years of age, or where the perpetrator is in an exploitative relationship with the victim, is an offence. An exploitative relationship involves an adult who is in a position of responsibility, authority or influence such as that of a teacher-student, doctor-patient, or parent-child.

We do not tolerate any of such offences and the misuse of our platform. If you suspect that any of the above harms have occurred to you, please get in touch with us by writing to postoffice@acceset.com, so that we can further assist you on the issue and provide the necessary support.

Writing

One benefit, as shown in our peer-reviewed journal publication (see research in our footer), is reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms. Another benefit is connecting with new friends who like your content, and whose content you like too.

Clueless about what to write? Well, you can select from our list of 220 topics ranging from Sports, Lifestyle, Work, Relationships, Health and Nature. So you won’t be at a loss for what to write! Acceset can serve as a diary to record your life events and personal experiences. You can then use these life experiences to connect with the wider community on the platform.

We know writing can be hard, so we’ve curated interactive prompts and heartwarming visual cues to give you a very different writing experience from what you are used to in school or at work. This way, it is fun, visually engaging and it reduces the effort needed to begin writing. You are free to write as little or as much as you wish to, starting from a minimum of 50 words.

Also, some users are worried about being judged, or compared with other users. They are also worried if their writing is good enough. We want to assure you that we do not display popularity metrics such as the number of likes and views of each friendship letter from each user. Moreover, comments aren’t allowed on friendship letters. This platform is designed to be inclusive to attract a diverse range of writing styles, and we are confident that by writing in your most natural and comfortable way, your authentic voice will shine through, and it will draw the right audience who will relate to your content and increase your chances of matching with the right people. All in all, we go all-in in shaping a wholesome culture and vibe on the platform!

Can we also add that you have the option to verify your account against Singpass, which will mean that your writing will only be shown to Singpass-verified users. It also means that random, unverified profiles will not be able to creep on you, see your writing or connect with you. We know the Internet is unsafe, and your safety will always be top of our priority!

That is totally fine as not everyone loves to write. However, to get the most out of our system, we will require our community to contribute at least one friendship letter of their own after viewing 10 of the latest friendship letters in order. Your contribution will support a culture of knowledge exchange which will bring a diversity of ideas that benefit the Acceset community.

Some of our users prefer to share their experience verbally, and we are pleased to share that we have also added an audio journaling feature so that you can share your latest thoughts via audio, or audio with images.

That’s because those words are censored. As a rule of thumb, we try to censor certain words to protect our users. There are three types of censorship. First, we have system censorship. You will see it as a green censored image ( green imagery ). These are censored words or phrases that our team believes are primarily used to induce harm.

Second, we have the safety list censorship; these appear as a pink censored image ( pink imagery ). These appear when you are reading other users’ letters and they contain words that you ask our algorithm to censor on your behalf which you mention in your list of safety word(s).

Finally, the last type of censorship you see is a white censored image ( white imagery ). This is a self-censorship tool employed by the letter’s author. They might have censored words, phrases, or sentences that contain sensitive information which the author hopes to talk about in their journal as a way to process the event, but cannot be publicly disclosed.

All censored words, phrases or sentences have been altered to reflect “censored” because we may have users who primarily consume the content using the text-to-speech feature. This feature can be found next to the motivation GIF title. There’s a speaker icon which changes to a pause icon when you click on it, or after pressing the spacebar if you are on a desktop.

The design of the writing tool is informed by research literature such as Self-Determination Theory, as well as Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). In addition, we’ve included information obtained from the community’s product feedback and lived experience of users to guide our innovation efforts. For example, while PANAS covers an adequate range of emotions widely accepted by most researchers in most regions, some users have raised their opinions on including other emotions that are not included within PANAS, yet remain central to one’s life experiences, such as feelings of calmness, being at ease or feelings of being apprehensive or tired. We heard them! Hence, we have also included them in our writing tool.

The platform writing tools underwent a rigorous research study and delivered a positive outcome, where both receivers and providers of care, through digital text exchanges, experienced a drop in self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms by up to 40 percent. The results are published in a peer-reviewed journal by JMIR Mental Health Publication. See under Research in our website footer to read the open-access journal paper.