Now everyone on the planet is now getting the fact that everything we do online leaves a digital tattoo. And we don’t like it. Which is why developers are crazily launching transitory apps for the biggest market. Teens. Who want to express themselves but who also want privacy and control over where their message ends up.
It seems the quest to develop the ultimate App which offers users a sense of security on their content not coming back to haunt them, took a leap forward last month. (maybe ‘leap’ is too strong a term).
Say hello to Sobrr. This new App, one of the latest ephemeral apps, promises users that the content which they call ‘moments’ will be erased in 24 hours. Yip you heard it right. 24 hours.
Now despite its name and the concept’s birth being a result of a Hangover Stylee Stag night in Vegas; according to the apps founder Bruce Yang, this is not an app for when you’re drinking. Heaven Forbid. That might be seen as socially irresponsible.
Instead Bruce explains it’s more altruistic purpose. ‘Sobrr encourages users to go out and live in the moment’. He goes on to say, ‘The fact that everything will disappear soon keeps the user engaged with things in the present’. So there you go. Living in the moment now needs an app. To record and share the moment. And then to ‘forget it’ 24 hours on.
Now Snapchat blazed the trail for these transitory apps and is still the most popular with 400 million photos shared daily. Beating even the ever popular Facebook at a mere 350 million pics daily. Everyone wants to knock Snapchat off that perch and this app is no exception for the huge market who want to share impulsively/in the moment but still maintain privacy/forget/remove content which may come back to bite them.
So how does it work I hear you say? Well once the App has been installed (currently available on IOS with the Android version coming soon) from what I gather, for the App to work effectively you must share/use your current location. Users can then sign in/up with Facebook or on their Phone Number. Once you have the app up and running, if you snap a photo which is called ‘Vibing’ and post it on Sobrr, people in your geographical can view the post. But just the once. They can then choose to cheer, comment or add you as a 24 hour friend. (The 24 hour friend is also a new concept). The term ‘Friend’ being slightly over-used nowadays. Just saying.
Now in order to get chatting to this ‘24-hour friend’ you must accept their friend request and you can use the Sobrr Chat to have a conversation with them. As you can only have your new ‘friend’ for 24 hours, once the time has passed, you are cleared from each other’s friend list, unless both sides opt into ‘Keep’.
Strange I hear you say? Or an interesting feature…
Within the App you can also search for people nearby and choose to add them as a ‘friend’.
According to the Sobrr website the App is all about ‘creating a space where nothing is recorded, so you are free to share your life in the moment and meet new people without feeling restricted by your future self’. In short say and do what you want, n impulse, share it and dontworryaboutititsgonein24.
Kind of contradicts my STOP |THINK | POST approach.
Sobrr, apart from the ‘24-hour friend’ feature is not that much different from other apps, especially given that message receivers can screen shot ‘Vibes’ enabling them to resurface at a later date. Kind of an online version of the Walk of Shame on repeat.
Remember What Goes Online, Stays Online. Proceed with Caution. It’s your Online Reputation on the line.
Posted By Wayne Denner
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