Last year, Snap shut down Zenly, the popular social mapping app it acquired for over $200 million in 2017, but Zenly still has 40 million active users and continues to grow. Users were understandably upset.But now, Zenly co-founder Antoine Martin says he’s back in the social apps market with a new company called Amo. The former CEO of Zenly, former Zenly managing director Michael Goldenstein, and others he works with on Amo. Amo’s goal is to solve today’s social networking problems by focusing on connecting friends in the real world rather than the rest of the world.
Details about the new product are being withheld for the time being, but Martin and Goldenstein began teasing Amo via a social media post on Friday.
In a LinkedIn post, Goldenstein elaborated on the problem Amo was trying to solve.
“Today’s social products have become overly complex and commoditized super-apps that no longer serve the best interests of the people who use them, but rather the advertisers who feed their top lines. He explained. The Scroll of Doom TikTok and its equivalents, on the other hand, don’t make anyone feel better,” he wrote.
Furthermore, he said today’s social technology makers are bloated because employees are fighting over “pixels and proprietary metrics to get the next promotion.”
However, the situation has led to the development of a new set of social apps that are generating traction. as evidence that you are willing to try the product.
His market analysis is correct. As TechCrunch reported last year, there has been a proliferation of homescreen social apps such as Locket and his BeReal that place widgets on your smartphone’s home screen. Apple also named BeReal as its 2022 “App of the Year” after its dramatic growth and investors jumping in to back the company with his $60 million Series B. Did.
These apps were among the first to capture consumer demand for new, more authentic social networking experiences, but the signs of this change have been around for years. Young users longed for a way to keep up with their real-world friends outside of their carefully crafted Instagram presence, so they created private Instagram accounts, or finstas, for more casual posting. started. BeReal essentially productized this experience, but with the addition of a notification gimmick that prompts users to post at a specific time each day.
It’s not yet clear what exactly Amo has in store, but as Goldenstein explains, it’s a real-world experience, as opposed to where users have to “compete with brands and celebrities.” It seems to be along the same lines as social networking.
martin, notification on twitterexpressed a combination of disappointment at Zenly’s fate and excitement over his new product. I am confident it will happen,” he said.
Martin also didn’t explain exactly what Amo was planning to do, but promised the company would be more experimental.
“We are finally free, excited, and trying many things. Stay tuned,” Martin tweeted.
The comment on Springboard (a reference to the app that manages the iPhone’s home screen) could suggest that Amo might also include some kind of home screen widget similar to BeReal or Locket. I have.
A TestFlight version of the Amo app will be released soon, Martin said, and interested users can @amoamoamo Twitter account Stay tuned for future news. Amo’s waiting list is also available on the company’s website. A phone number and name are required to sign up.
