Current social media platforms have taught us how we can get “followers” (Facebook, for example, gives you the option to “follow” or “unfollow” friends), but how about making new friends by doing the same as we used to: posting images and sharing our thoughts?
Nearest5 aims high: It provides a fresh new way to communicate and also make new friends. But how would it like to do that?
To understand the concept, I spoke with the man behind the Nearest5 app, founder Matt Lally. He quickly pointed to what makes Nearest5 stand out from the crowd: It aims to shake up the concept that social media platform users have become accustomed to: “following” people.
Nearest5 doesn’t use this concept at all; it rides the opportunity offered by ever-connected smartphones instead. It transforms online presence into (possible) new relationships. How does it do that? Easy: You create a Nearest5 account, and every image you post will be sent out to the five nearest people who are currently active.
And this is what makes things interesting, as detailed by Matt: “The nearest five people might be in the same room as you or quite far away. Unlike Yik Yak, with Nearest5 your posts are actually messages that are pushed out to those nearest five people (like a text message). Other people who come near later cannot see them. Once you communicate with someone for the first time, you can chat with them again any time in future.”
The nearest-five rule applies even if there are hundreds of users online. Since the app tracks the user locations of those who allow it to do so, the epic photo you post will be sent to the geographically nearest five people. And the interaction starts from there.
Nearest5 launches in the US App Store today. Click here to download it, start broadcasting, and keep the conversation ongoing!
