If you have spent any amount of time online, you have probably spent at least a few minutes browsing a social network. Almost every brick and mortar business has some form of social media presence that it uses to help customers better connect with their products and / or brand.
Although there are many social networks to choose from, almost everyone is either on Twitter, or Facebook (once upon a time that would have been Myspace, but that time has come and gone), while the more tech savvy are on niche social sharing sites like Instagram, and Tumblr. But on the horizon, another social network is hoping to throw its hat into the ring, and currently it seems to be getting the attention of teenagers who are looking for something they can get on that isn’t shared by their parents (or grandparents). That social media network’s name is Pheed.
O.D. Kobo, the creator of Pheed (pronounced just like “feed”, except spelled with a “ph”) was looking for a way to take the picture sharing capabilities of Instagram, and give it a social networking spin. The interface for Pheed is very similar to that of Instagram. One of the interesting features of the interface is that it includes a dislike icon represented by a broken heart. Depending upon if you are accessing Pheed via an Android or iPhone device, you can get it as a stand-alone application, or as a web based app. Regardless of the version you download, you will be able to send text messages, post pictures, and make comments on various “pheeds”. One of the other amazing things about this app is that you can share or stream audio content regardless of the file type. The app does have copyright filters in place to detect illegal audio sharing. Other than that, users can feel free to access the unlimited audio streaming capabilities of this application as much as they wish. You can even share your content on other social media websites.
To make this a one stop shop for social networking, the content on Pheed can be shared on other social networks like Facebook, and Twitter, You can even share content via email which would be very handy for internet marketers who wish to send current content to their email lists. People on Pheed can subscribe to your pheed channel in order to gain access to content that you post through this app. You can also unsubscribe just as easily as you can subscribe to any pheed channel which opens the doors for people to test out content without feeling any obligation to continue subscribing if they later find that the content is not to their liking. You can also search the channels for hashtags – similar to Twitter, but with access to content that could also be easily found on Facebook. To sweeten the deal, you have 420 characters to post a pheed (unlike Twitter’s 140 character limit), and you can add other media to your pheed posts, such as pictures, and video. With video, you have the option to use a pre-existing video, or record one – the same is true for audio.
In regards to interactivity notification, users have access to a list of notifications to let them know when someone has subscribed to their pheed channel, or when someone has liked, or disliked a particular pheed post. To make it easier to tag content that is accessed frequently, there is the Keeper function. The Keeper function is similar to a “favorites” option on other social networks. You can tag a piece of content on Pheed as a “keeper” so that it is easier to access later. You can then refresh the screen by clicking on the “Refresh” icon in the upper right hand corner. For those looking to limit the kind of content that they will have access to, the content level access rating can be set to a particular tolerance level (PG, PG-13, R, etc.). Pheed even gives you the option to monetize your content. Those who choose this option can receive 50% of whatever Pheed pulls in for their channel (if you are a celebrity, you can probably negotiate for a bigger cut of the profits).
In short, Pheed is a mash-up of the social media content from various social networks all brought together on one convenient platform. Many critics have said that Pheed won’t last long because the interface is somewhat garbled, and messy looking and that most adults probably are going to want to steer clear of this…, but that’s the point. This is a social network that is designed to appeal to a much younger audience (teenagers, and young adults). For internet marketers who are willing to take out the time to understand how Pheed works, this can be a GOLDMINE of information as to how to appeal to a younger demographic. Teenagers, and young adults tend to have much more discretionary income than most adults, and are willing to spend money on virtual goods, or anything that they find fun, and engaging. Pheed can easily be used by internet marketers to better understand how those under 18 years of age think. Overall, for internet marketers looking to expand into the teenage market, there is A LOT of marketing data that can be obtain by interacting with those who are on the Pheed social network – IF one is willing to take out the time to do so.
