Social Souls is a social network helping the over 60s find friendship and community. The Social Souls platform was built on WordPress with a privacy-first architecture designed to protect sensitive user data while remaining simple and accessible for older adults. Social Souls allows users to sign up, browse profiles, and connect with both individuals and local service providers, clubs, groups, and organisations.
Social Souls presented a challenge: building a connections platform where the users themselves are the product’s biggest vulnerability. Every profile contains personal details, photos, and contact information that must remain private until trust is established through mutual interest. The architecture needed to enforce this at every layer. From database to API to UI all the while remaining simple enough for users who may not be comfortable with technology.
The platform required a custom WordPress architecture capable of managing profile privacy, connection logic and subscription management while remaining easy for administrators to manage.
The connection system is designed to be simple and intuitive, reflecting the platform’s commitment to accessibility for its over-60s audience.
When browsing profiles, users are presented with a “Connect” button on each listing. Clicking this sends a connection request to that user, but crucially, no contact details are shared at this stage. The requesting user sees a confirmation message: “If [First Name] connects with you, their contact details will appear on your Connects page.”
This creates a mutual opt-in model. Both parties must independently choose to connect with each other before any personal information is exchanged.
This approach was chosen for two key reasons:
Once a mutual connection is established, both users are notified by email and can view each other’s contact details on their “Your Connects” page. From there, they are free to get in touch however suits them best, whether by phone, email, or meeting in person.
This projects handles user subscriptions using Stripe as the payment gateway.
We fully integrated SendGrid into the Social Souls site, routing all WordPress system emails and Gravity Forms notifications through SendGrid’s API. This replaces the default WordPress SMTP approach, ensuring reliable deliverability and giving us detailed tracking of every email sent from the platform, from registration confirmations and admin approval alerts to mutual connection notifications.
The profile browser is the core component of the platform, giving users the ability to browse and filter profiles to suit their needs. Each profile card displays key information at a glance, including the user’s name, location, age, and a brief introduction, alongside a prominent “Connect” button.
Users can filter profiles by type (individual or group/organisation), gender, and activity interests, making it easy to find relevant connections without scrolling through every listing. The browser combines both individual profiles and entity listings (such as clubs, groups, and social organisations) into a single unified feed.
Social Souls launched on February 27, 2026, delivering a fully functional connections platform tailored for adults over 60. The site enables users to register, build a profile, browse other members, and form mutual connections through a deliberately simplified interface. Both individual users seeking social connections and entities such as clubs and organisations can create listings, giving the platform a broader community feel from day one.
A privacy-first mutual connection system ensures contact details are only shared when both parties have expressed interest, building trust with a demographic that is naturally cautious about sharing personal information online. The admin approval workflow means every profile is reviewed before going live, maintaining quality and safety across the platform.
By using WordPress as the foundation, the platform benefits from a mature ecosystem, robust security practices and a flexible development framework. Custom functionality was developed to manage user profiles, connection requests and subscription access while still allowing administrators to manage the site through the familiar WordPress dashboard.
The end result is a clean, accessible product that proves digital platforms can be designed to genuinely serve older adults, prioritising clarity and simplicity over feature density, and putting the user at the centre of every interaction.
“Bryan immediately understood what I wanted from the build of Social Souls and made some excellent suggestions on how to approach the development. He has supported us in the build and launch of the platform and I would totally recommend Davis Digital for your development projects.”
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