Final yr, Snap shut down Zenly, a well-liked social mapping app it acquired for over $200 million in 2017, even though Zenly nonetheless had 40 million lively customers and rising. Customers have been understandably upset. However now, Zenly co-founder Antoine Martin says he’s returning to the social app market with the launch of a brand new firm referred to as Amo. The previous Zenly CEO is working with ex-Zenly managing director Michael Goldenstein and others on the startup, whose purpose is to repair the issues with immediately’s social networks by specializing in connecting pals in the true world, not connecting the entire world.
Particulars concerning the new product stay shrouded in the interim, however each Martin and Goldenstein started teasing Amo by social media posts on Friday.
In a LinkedIn publish, Goldenstein described the issue Amo was trying to clear up in additional element.
“In the present day’s social merchandise have grow to be overly advanced and commoditized tremendous apps that not serve one of the best pursuits of those that use them, however moderately the advertisers that feed their high line” he defined. “TikTok is consuming the world and solely making issues worse as firms focus their efforts on getting their display time again as an alternative of specializing in why individuals use their merchandise within the first place. In the meantime, doom scrolling TikTok and its equivalents isn’t making anybody really feel good,” he wrote.
As well as, he stated immediately’s social tech makers have been bloated as their staff fought over “pixel and their very own metrics to be able to get their subsequent promotion.”
This case has led to the event of a brand new set of social apps which can be producing traction, nevertheless. Goldenstein cited apps like BeReal, Locket Widget and Zenly as proof that persons are in search of to strive merchandise which can be centered on “actual relationships.”
He’s not mistaken with this evaluation of the market. As additionally reported final yr, homescreen social apps that put widgets on the smartphone’s dwelling display, like Locket and BeReal, were blowing up. Apple additionally anointed BeReal as its “App of the Year” in 2022 after its dramatic progress and traders jumped to again the corporate with a $60 million Series B.
Whereas these apps have been among the many first to seize the buyer demand for brand spanking new, extra genuine social networking experiences, there have been alerts pointing towards this shift for years. As youthful customers craved a solution to sustain with their real-world pals, outdoors of their fastidiously manufactured Instagram presence, they started to create non-public Instagram accounts, or finstas, for extra informal posting. BeReal basically productized this expertise however with the added gimmick of a notification that urges customers to publish at a sure time day by day.
It’s not but clear what precisely Amo has in retailer, however it appears to be alongside these similar strains of real-world social networking versus locations the place customers should “compete with manufacturers and celebrities,” as Goldenstein describes it.
Martin, in an announcement on Twitter, expressed a mix of disappointment over Zenly’s destiny and pleasure for his new product. He even tagged Snap CEO Evan Spiegel in a comment about Zenly’s closure, saying “I’m certain you’ll come to remorse that call.” (The Zenly co-founder had left Snap final yr, after launching Zenly’s redesign.)
Whereas Martin didn’t describe precisely what Amo was as much as both, he promised the corporate can be extra experimental.
“We’re lastly free, excited and can strive a number of issues. You possibly can anticipate us to take dangers, construct even weirder options, generate feelings and stronger friendships and hopefully discover some success alongside the way in which,” Martin tweeteed. “We’ll be doing our greatest to serve you above all else, and hope to be in your springboard in 2023.”
The remark concerning the springboard — a reference to the app that manages the iPhone’s House Display — may very well be a touch that Amo may additionally embrace a House Display widget of some sort, just like BeReal or Locket.
A TestFlight model of the Amo app will arrive quickly, Martin additionally famous, and customers can observe the @amoamoamo Twitter account to remain tuned for future information. A waitlist for Amo is offered on the company’s website as nicely, and requires a telephone quantity and title to enroll.
