Pop App thinks it may well reinvent the social media mannequin
It takes a courageous man to tackle the world’s large social media networks, however Michael Shen, the CEO and co-founder of Pop App, thinks he can do it. The mannequin of most social media networks is unfair, he argues, as a result of the customers and content material creators that drive their success should not correctly rewarded. Pop App, he suggests, will prosper by treating folks extra equitably.
“Social media platforms revenue from each the advertisements and the content material, however creators are left with out incomes alternatives,” Shen argues. “That’s why we created Pop – to disrupt your complete creator financial system and to change into an equaliser providing incomes alternatives to all customers.”
Clearly, there’s loads of market to go at. The present social media networks collectively boast 4 billion customers worldwide, with the typical person spending virtually two-and-a-half an hours a day on the platforms. Pop App, based final 12 months, solely wants to assert a small variety of these eyeballs in an effort to make a big effect.
Nonetheless, that will not be straightforward. Impartial analysis, corresponding to research by GWI, recommend social media use has begun to plateau – “world engagement has begun to decelerate”, it warns. On the plus facet, nonetheless, new fashions for social media do appear to be capturing folks’s consideration. Networks corresponding to Mastodon are getting traction with decentralised content material; BeReal seems to supply the authenticity that many customers are on the lookout for.
Shen’s technique is to lure folks on to the platform with rewards. Creators, for instance, will earn Pop tokens from the second they begin posting content material on Pop App, without having to satisfy follower thresholds; the blockchain-enabled tokens will permit creators to develop new kinds of engagement with followers – NFT launches, maybe – or they are often transformed into fiat foreign money.
Customers may also be rewarded – early adopters are additionally receiving tokens, however in the long term, Shen envisages a platform constructed on income sharing by way of sensible contracts. “Each person who creates content material, information or mental property can change into a beneficiary of Pop,” he says.
Extra broadly, Shen says Pop App is decided to supply extra assist and rewards to the individuals who drive its success. The platform’s algorithms are designed to advertise fascinating content material from even very small creators, in order that influencers with large follower counts don’t dominate. Creators will proceed to take care of management over their content material. Customers will likely be entitled to take part within the platform’s success. In contrast, on current networks, Shen argues, “content material customers are left behind and don’t earn something”.
It’s an bold challenge – the query is whether or not folks, each customers and creators, will discover the rewards on supply considerably engaging to begin utilizing Pop App in bigger numbers. “We’ve the chilly begin downside that faces any new platform, with the rooster and egg concern of needing creators to submit content material and customers to view it,” concedes Shen. “Nevertheless, we expect tokenisation will act as an enormous catalyst for adoption.”
His targets are definitely assured ones. Pop App at present has round 18,000 customers, who’ve helped the staff develop early iterations of the platform throughout its beta section. Nevertheless, Shen thinks reaching 1 million customers by the top of the 12 months is real looking. “Our final purpose is to convey 1 billion customers to Web3,” he says.
It’s an vital level. Pop App sees itself as a platform of the Web3 web, during which the facility of the web is decentralised – with people retaining better management of their information and content material, and changing into far much less depending on large know-how companies.
“Our goal isn’t solely to reimagine conventional fashions making use of blockchain know-how however to reinvent and fast-track mass Web3 adoption,” Shen says. “We wish to disrupt the present social media trade and past in the identical approach that Apple challenged Nokia.”
These are daring targets for a corporation simply beginning out – and which is totally bootstrapped up to now. Nevertheless, Pop App is at present speaking to buyers – it would want funding to get its tokenisation plans off the bottom – and places its present market worth at round $20 million, primarily based on person adoption and progress. Social finance fundraisings corresponding to Phaver and SoCol have attracted related valuations, Shen factors out. Nonetheless, at a time when enthusiasm for the tech sector is waning, Pop App might want to make a convincing pitch to buyers.
Shen insists his confidence isn’t misplaced, with a lot of big-name enterprise capital corporations within the platform’s potential. “We expect we are able to begin monetising the enterprise as soon as we attain 100,000 customers,” he says. Revenues will largely come from promoting gross sales, although Shen additionally hopes to usher in cash via actions on the platform corresponding to NFT mints and gross sales.
“We are going to develop rapidly,” Shen guarantees. “Fb took virtually 10 years to achieve 1 billion customers, whereas TikTok bought there in about half that point; we expect we’ll get there even faster.”