Raftr sells itself as a more civilized social network

Raftr, a new startup launched by former Yahoo president Sue Decker, is prepared to take on Facebook and Twitter to become your new favorite social network. Decker and one of Raftr's investors, Harrison Metal founder Michael Dearing, told Kara Swisher, host of Recode Decode, that Raftr cuts through the noise by encouraging users to follow topics rather than people, creating a more conversational environment versus the self-promotional experience and one-way dialogue you may get on other sites.

"Using Raftr is like going to a really great dinner party where there's little rooms talking about different topics and you can move from room to room... it's not a shouting fest, it's not megaphones. It's a conversation." — Raftr investor Michael Dearing.

Decker added that the success of sites like Slack and Nextdoor have proved that Facebook and Twitter aren't the "end-all be-all" of social media. Rather Raftr presents a new opportunity for people to find like-minded users they can connect with on a series of subjects.