Millennials are a generation of “digital natives” with strong opinions and they’re losing interest in social media that only allows them to register a Like on posts.
The creators of a new social media app called exacly.me believe they can give Millennials a platform for meaningful sharing with the honest self-expression that so defines them. The community of users can rate each other’s content with “Me” or “Not Me.” Gasp at a picture of a friend rock climbing? There’s even an option to say “So Not Me.”
“What’s very clear to me is Millennials, in particular, are looking for ways to express themselves the way they do in real life and the platforms out there don’t quite do that,” co-founder and CEO Simantini Chakraborty told Cult of Mac. “What we bring to the table lets you say what you feel. You are drawing a line to say ‘This is who I am.’ Millennials want something beyond selfies.”
You can find out today whether exacly.me is exactly for you by going to the iTunes store and downloading the app for free. Even if you are the first in your circle of friends to have exacly.me, you can begin posting photopinions (exacly.me’s new word that combines photo and opinion) and immediately find other like-minded users.
Photo: exacly.me
Through beta testing here and a soft launch in Canada, “a few thousands” are already using the app to express and define themselves, Chakraborty said.
Much has been written about Millennials, a demographic with a loose birth range of 1980 to the early 2000s. This generation was the first to grow up with a computer in the house, tend to buck the establishment and often dismiss the attitudes of their parents. On the plus side, they are considered open and civic-minded, but negative labels include a sense of self-entitlement and narcissistic.
Photo: exacly.me
Chakraborty believes calling Millennials narcissistic is overly simplistic. She said Millennials are searching for their sense of self and are open to changing their minds and attitudes as they meet others with strong or bold opinions.
She said exacly.me lets users see how their interests and beliefs line up and could be a valuable tool in the process of self-discovery.
As a user posts photopinions or records “Me” or “Not Me” on the posts of others, the apps algorithms can make more accurate content predictions. Even as tastes change – Millennials are also considered fickle – Chakraborty said the app will sense and follow these shifts.
The app appears to have an easy-to-use interface that gets more sophisticated as you register your tastes. There is a function that lets you compare yourself to friends or other users based on a range of topics or P.op Hubs.
Photo: exacly.me
During testing, exacly.me started with “Me” and “Just Me” but developed other voting options, like “Maybe Me” thanks to feedback from women.
“Women like shades of gray,” Chakraborty said. “Men tend to be more black and white but as more and more users started to use these (ratings), the guys got into it, too.”
Chakraborty worked with product and data teams with Microsoft and Amazon before launching exacly.me. The app’s other co-founder, CTO David Warthen, was a co-founder of Askjeeves.com.
As part of their marketing strategy, Chakraborty said the team is in talks with “taste influencers” well-known to Millennials who may lend celebrity endorsement to the app. She said they also plan to do a social media campaign, but strongly believe that as people use the app, popularity will snowball.
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