The Xpat App 17+

Safe Space for Black People

Lemme tell you, there are many “apps” that talk about being safe for BIPOC, giving us information on where to go what to do and who we can connect with. Many times I’ve tried but I just never was able to click. I came across Xpat app via TikTok and gosh am I so so happy this exist! The search options, the community, the people! I love that this actually feels like a safe space for us to thrive, grow, and learn about places to live outside of the US. It’s amazing to see people already doing it and others in various stages like me! I appreciate this app, and I appreciate the creators that brought this to life! We literally just want to live in peace and this app gives us that chance. Check it out 🥰✨✊🏾

White men giving advice?!

I was muted after pointing out that a white man was giving race-related “advice” on the app based on his “research”. He was highlighting racism abroad in a country he had never been to, folks. Peak cringe, I know! I was currently in that country and found his advice to be out of pocket and expressed this. I see now that I was a bit of a fool thinking the app was a safe space for Black women. I naively brought this to the attention of the creator’s account. Shar the creator had previously reached out to me for a spotlight feature which could have been cute. When I flagged that this white man was interacting on posts not based on his lived experience (as a white man dealing with/witnessing anti-Black racism), I was muted. Or rather, when I made a post addressed to Black people only, I was muted. As a woman I think it is important to have safe spaces to communicate within our community but such a place has yet to be created. This white man remains on the app, probably giving race-related advice he knows nothing about, but such is life. I must say that I enjoyed the app before I flagged the presence of white men unironically weighing in on racism abroad.

Developer Response ,

Hi Stephanie, as communicated to you via email, your full access to the app was removed because of your violation of Xpat’s Community Rules — rules that you agreed to when you joined the app. Some of your posts and comments were flagged by other users and upon review of your account we confirmed that you were in direct violation of our community rules (e.g. derogatory language, calling another user a dumb b*tch, etc.). On the Xpat platform, users are not allowed to mistreat or disrespect others simply because they disagree with them. Our community rules clearly articulate this. Our apologies if your comprehension of our rules were in any way misconstrued. Our pro-Black stance is not “anti” other races. You are free to invest the tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours that it takes to build your own app where derogatory language and mistreatment towards users is allowed, however, this is not allowed on the Xpat platform. Respectfully, Shar (The Xpat App Creator)

Great app, fills a huge need

I came across this app after reading about the founder in a cnbc article. I’m so excited I stumbled across it. As a young professional black person who is looking to become a global citizen, this app has helped me find my tribe. You can easily connect with aspiring and current expats from all over the world to learn, share, grow. The app itself is well done with search capabilities and messaging functions. It fills a need and is well developed. Would give it 10 stars if I could.