Pls.Find is a social experiment designed to catalyze online behavior as a force for good.
The account helps people reunite with unforgettable individuals and meaningful objects they’ve lost, prompting communities to rally together to solve what we call “mysteries of the human heart.”
The project was conceptualized by Upworthy’s Head of Content & Innovation, Gabriel Reilich, to revive a largely forgotten promise of social media: using technology to connect people in a way that’s rooted in our shared humanity. Through the collective effort of its followers, multiple stories featured on @pls.find have reached deeply moving resolutions.
The results have been tangible.
In several other viral moments, @pls.find has tapped into the internet’s instinct to sleuth. But we’re channeling what can sometimes be a problematic impulse into something remarkably special: collective action leading to generous, uniquely human outcomes.
This account began with a straightforward question and a purposeful constraint: Can we use social media to catalyze a collective action rooted in empathy?
We seeded the project through Upworthy’s existing reach, asking our audience of five million people one simple question: “Is there someone from your past you wish you could get in contact with again, but have no idea how?” From this single post, we received hundreds of responses. Followers shared some deeply personal stories of gratitude, unfinished connections, and moments that significantly impact lives, but ones they never found closure around.
From there, we curated stories that aligned with the core goal of @pls.find: bringing people together over something beautiful. We indexed for the real possibility of a meaningful reunion, however unlikely, by leaning into a spark for collective effort. We followed up to comments via DM to understand the context of each story, then moved into interviews to assess what felt ethically and potentially solvable (even if a remote possibility).
Did the story have that “internet, do your thing” sensibility that could realistically be harnessed?
We also noticed people were not just searching for individuals. Many were looking for irreplaceable objects that carried deep emotional weight. We expanded the scope to include these items, centering the stories around why the object mattered. This broadened the project while staying true to its purpose.
Execution was distinctly social. We translated each story into formats designed to travel organically: DM screenshots, interview stills with subtitles, direct calls-to-action, short videos, and text updates tracking progress. Every post was designed to foster participation and reinforce that this was something people could be a part of, not just content to passively consume. Followers researched, shared, and amplified. We trusted the emotional resonance of these stories to motivate action and beat the odds of finding a resolution.
The primary challenge has been scale and uncertainty. We cannot guarantee any story will be solved. We are often up against time elapsed, incomplete information, limited assets, fading leads, and dead ends. What made the project work was the community that formed around it. After the first post, the account grew from zero to over 10,000 followers almost immediately. Organic media coverage extended the reach beyond social platforms. All of this combined to allow us to solve several of these “mysteries of the human heart.”
What makes @pls.find unique is that it is not a viral pursuit meant for passive observation. It is a living expression of Upworthy’s mission of sharing the best of humanity with the world, now manifested as a proactive communal experience. It gives people a place to see deeply human expressions of gratitude, appreciation, and thanks for moments that never left them, no matter how small or large. It gives followers the chance to reflect on similar experiences, and share them as well.
The project proves that when social media is designed around human values instead of attention alone, it can still deliver on its original promise: real connection.
Results have met and exceeded our objectives in several key ways: reach, emotional resonance and real-world impact. We wanted to show social media can catalyze collective action rooted in empathy and the early performance of @pls.find confirms that our approach is working.
The account has averaged:
All organic. No paid.
The account has grown to more than 30,000 followers quickly, which is significant in an algorithmic era where earning new, intentional followings from scratch is increasingly difficult. People have to really resonate with a mission, and the numbers show they are liking what the @pls.find community stands for.
The project reinforces shared humanity: the idea that strangers care about one another throughout the whole narrative. People don’t just consume, they complete. They find meaning. That’s a success. People literally tell us it’s what they’ve been looking for from social media in the comments. Something life and connection affirming like @pls.find.
Importantly, the work is producing measurable, positive outcomes. Multiple stories have already reached successful resolutions, others are actively unfolding, including an in-person reunion scheduled in the coming weeks. This demonstrates that the community’s engagement is not performative. It is translating into real connection, closure, and impact, which was our core objective from the start. We can’t wait to see how the community responds to continued developments, ones they are responsible for making possible.
