If you’re finding yourself tiring of Facebook and looking for something a little less run-of-the-mill, there are numerous options to consider, but one new social media platform is making even some of the most devoted Facebook fans sit up and take note.
Introducing Pheed
Pheed, launched on October 12, 2012, is a social media that provides a unified platform that let its users to share all kinds of digital content such as texts, photos, videos, audio tracks, voice-notes and live broadcasts.
Just over a month later, this California based company, launched its iPhone app, which, within the first 6 weeks, climbed Apple’s Top Charts into the Top 10 Free Apps in the social networking category. By mid-February, Pheed reached the number 1 spot, outranking both Facebook and Twitter. With over 80% of Pheed users being between the ages of 14 and 25, it is clear that it is the younger generation fueling Pheed’s growing popularity.
Pheeds ranking suddenly spiked when an avalanche of downloads were triggered by several heavily followed teens reporting their enthusiasm for the platform on Instagram and Twitter thus illustrating how influential the youth sector can be in propagating an online startup’s growth.
What makes Pheed any different from other social media?
One thing that sets Pheed apart from other social networking platforms is that it is monetized. Users have the option of putting their content behind a paywall, should they wish, and can charge between $1.99 to $34.99 per view. Alternatively a monthly subscription fee can be levied and the proceeds shared with Pheed. It is also possible to watermark content as well as to copyright it.
Over the past decade internet users have become accustomed to performing online transactions, and it seems as though many services that weren’t monetized in the past are heading in that direction. Granted, when someone is purchasing goods from an online store, one expects to pay, but now, certain things that were free in the past have a price tag attached. A prime example is Facebook who is now levying a fee for sending messages to people who are not listed on your friends list.
The option to monetize motivates users to create quality content
The thing about charging a fee is that it encourages users to create decent content as opposed to flooding the net with unsubstantiated gossip and meaningless banter. If your intention is to retain your subscribers then you are certainly going to make an effort to give them something worth paying for. The creators of Pheed identified many problems with other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. With Facebook they felt fans were becoming bored and looking for more exciting ways to network. Then with Twitter, they felt there were too many limitations and generally far too much poor quality content. People had lost focus and instead of concentrating on creating decent content, they became consumed rather with gaining followers.
Is Pheed ready to take on the big guys?
To illustrate how well Pheed has taken off, when Miley Cyrus launched her own Pheed towards the end of last year, her audio recording drew an incredible 10,000 visitors to the site within only half a second. The burning question is: of all of these fans, how many would be prepared to pay to view an event or subscribe to her channel? Considering the predominant age group, how many are actually earning enough to set aside money to pay for social networking? Is this actually a viable option or is this something that inadvertently sets out to alienate fans who cannot afford the luxury.
[Read also: 5 Musical Social Media for Music Lovers]
What sets Pheed apart is the monetization aspect in favor of the content creator. While there is no charge involved for owning and operating a Pheed account, the user does have the option of applying a monthly subscription fee to their channel.
Will Pheed make an impact to the social media industry? Only time will tell.
Do you think the concept of monetized social media works? Or you think Pheed will struggle to get in the game and ended in a spectacular failure? Let us know in the comments.
I guess, in the near future, this concept of monetized social networking may develop and may work effectively. As for now, I don’t think people are ready to pay for social networking.
But with this new concept, I think Pheed has something special for itself… Only time will tell. Let’s see!
Yeah I agree with you, Mahaveer! I certainly won’t pay for social networking. However, it seems to be working well with celebrities. At least Miley Cyrus and Paris Hilton said so 🙂
Within the first 6 weeks onto the top 10 free apps list, that’s great and moreover the idea of monetization seems to be very interesting. Thanks for sharing and tweeted 🙂
Thanks for the tweet, Nizam!
hey Peter,
nice to hear about the social media pheed.
i don’t know much about this .
i will also use it ,thanks for this information…
Great! Hope to hear your feedback after using Pheed.
Hello Peter…
I just check and try Pheed , as I didn’t know abut it before.It looks and feel really interesting . Monetizing from it is another plus point for Pheed. Thanks for nice sharing.
You’re welcome, Mahendra! 🙂
this looks like a great idea peter
never heard about this but thanks for letting us know about pheed. earning money with social media is a nice concept and i think more companies will come forward with same concept. thanks for sharing this article with us
Nice try by Pheed but how well it’ll go remains to be seen.
Going through the growth rate of pheed, it seems like in very near future it will be standing near the giant social networking sites like facebook, google+, twitter and all..,
I hope so too. I like to see more social media able to compete with FB. We’ll see…
Hey Peter,
Nice post and Thanks for sharing this information of pheed with us as I have no information about this social networking site but after reading this post, pheed really seems interesting and I am thinking of joining it.
Great! Go join!
Hmmmm, honestly, I find Pheed’s way of monetizing quite interesting. As you say, I won’t pay for social networking. Pheed might be the next MySpace though, it would either die out or it would be a breeding ground for new artists, celebrities to fully monetize their content, videos and etc..
Thanks for sharing in Bizsugar!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by!
i will try this new social networking site and according to you, if it can help us to earn few bucks for my content then it will be a great tool for me because right now i have great stuff to share with yo all about Blogging, SMM, SEO and much more which become a building block for your blogging career.
Most of these stuff(blogging, SMM and SEO) can be easily obtained from the internet for free. I’m not sure if people would pay for that. However, if you think your stuff are unique and that you are confident your followers would pay for them then by all means go ahead!