What is a private album and how does it work?
At launch, private albums on JoinTheSwing will be photo collections that only members you approve can see. Requests to view a private album will go through a consent step — the other member sends a request with a note, and you approve or decline. Access is planned to be revocable at any time.
Private albums solve a fundamental problem with how older lifestyle platforms handled photos: by default, everything was visible to everyone. That model failed members who wanted to be social in the community without exposing photos to people they had not vetted.
The private album system is planned to be request-based. Another member who wants to see your album would send a request — essentially a short introduction note explaining why they are interested. You would review their profile, their verification status, their vouches, and their approach before you decide whether to grant access.
The design lets you revoke access at any time for any reason without explanation. If a connection sours or you simply want to tighten your album access, revocation is meant to be immediate, and the member would no longer see the album.
The planned rules treat screenshotting or redistributing private album content as a serious violation of the platform's consent rules, and access records are intended to help support teams understand the context.
For many members, maintaining two or three different album tiers is likely to make practical sense: a couple of non-explicit photos on your public profile, and a private album that you share selectively with people you have met or vetted personally.
What is a private album?
At launch, a private album on JoinTheSwing will be a photo collection that only members you approve can see. It is designed to solve a problem with how older lifestyle platforms handled photos, where everything was visible to everyone by default. The aim is to let you be social in the community without exposing photos to people you have not vetted.
The fuller picture is in the private albums guide.
How do you get access to a private album?
The system is planned to be request-based. Another member who wants to see your album would send a request — essentially a short introduction note explaining why they are interested — and you would review their profile, verification status, vouches and approach before deciding whether to grant access. Nothing is shared until you approve it; access follows your decision rather than their request.
Can access be revoked afterwards?
Yes. The design lets you revoke access at any time for any reason without explanation. If a connection sours or you simply want to tighten your album access, revocation is meant to be immediate, and the member would no longer see the album. That reversibility is part of the point of a request-based system rather than a one-time privacy setting.
The surrounding privacy controls are covered in the safety and privacy guide.
What are the rules about screenshots?
The planned rules treat screenshotting or redistributing private album content as a serious violation of the platform's consent rules. Access records are intended to help support teams understand the context, so a grant of access is not anonymous. Practically, that means access is granted to a person for viewing, not as permission to copy or pass on what they see, and the rules cover the content after access as well as who was granted it.
How consent works across the platform is covered in consent in the lifestyle.