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2016
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17
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2016
What would happen if we were to put Twitter and WhatsApp together? No doubt we would get something along the lines of Shootr. This application was released in 151 countries on February 14, with a very ambitious aim: to become the present and future of the second screen. IgnasiElias, founder and CEO of Shootr, told VIA Empresa that "it is a messaging platform with one peculiarity: it is somewhere between what we know as an instant message service and social networks."
According to Elias, Shootr "occupies virgin territory where no on has gone before. It answers a need that people are currently covering in a precarious manner using whatever tools they have available, basically Twitter." The father of the app references the use of Twitter as a second screen. "Increasingly more people like to see what is being said on the network about what they are watching on television." The problem, he points out, is that "it is not a meeting place, while Shootr is." For the moment, it has convinced Mike Butcher, of Techcrunch.
A Twitter inside WhatsApp
The best thing the reader can do to understand what Shootr is about is to download the app. When you do, after registering (using a Facebook account, for example), you will find a design in the style of WhatsApp. The difference is that in this case the conversations are between groups divided into interests. Television programmes, such as La Riera, Arucitys or Gran Hermano VIP, have their own streams (which is the name for the chats), where all the viewers can comment on what is happening live. As Elias says, "it is the first tool that allows anyone to enjoy a social experience on a second screen."
The head of Shootr says that "WhatsApp is like being with your friends in your living room, Twitter is like shouting in a public square, and Shootr is like being with your friends at a bar." In short, he points out, in a bar you are with your friends, but around you are people you do not know but with whom you surely share interests. "If you are all in the same bar, you will all be of a similar social class, from the same neighbourhood or city, etc. Shootr occupies this space," he says.
The added value in respect to Twitter
The fact that programmes like Arucitys have set up an official stream for the programme "is something we like and that strengthens us," says Ignasi Elias. "They have adopted Shootr because it has potential to reach the entire audience. They adopted it as THE channel. It is a place to meet your people, and is a very warm tool," he insists.
He stresses the fact that, until now, "with Twitter they put a hashtag on the screen and my mother sees only a hieroglyph. Twitter is used by very specific groups of people: journalists, celebrities, etc. Normal people use WhatsApp". According to Elias, "the media has hyped the Twitter phenomenon because they are the ones who get the most out of it."
At Shootr they prefer to speak of a "virtual stand". If two friends are watching Aructiys and they follow Twitter, "as for 95% of the time they will do so in silence, they will not write anything. Thus neither of the two knows that the other one is watching the programme. With Shootr you have a virtual stand, so you can take a look at who else is there and take part or not," Elias points out. And the list of participants allows you to identify your friends from among the people connected who are following the same programme. .
Shootr's origin
Elias rules out talking about Shootr as an "idea. I would have liked it to already have been an idea out there, as for the last two years I have been thinking about what would happen if you brought WhatsApp and Twitter together." The truth is that the app is the result of nearly two intense years of "chipping away at trying to find a solution to socialising another of our apps: Goles Messenger." This alerts you in real time to what is happening in a match and Apple chose it as app of the year four years ago.
"We made it without thinking globally, and to achieve our aims we wanted to give it a network mentality, that could be shared among the fans. In the end we realised that what we were doing was much more powerful than the aim with which we had started," Elias admits. Thus Shootr appeared as a spin-off of Goles Messenger. "It was a little traumatic having to face your partners to tell them you needed another three months...and then having to do that four times," Ignasi Elias recalls. Luckily, he says, "they gave us a lot of support and the result has been worth it. We kept at it until it worked."
The profitability of appsa rendibilitat de les apps
Having come out in 151 countries at the same time "seems more spectacular than it really is. You can make an app with very little money and make it available through the various stores," says the Shootr founder modestly. The issue, he says, is why this type of launch. "It is to position the tool globally. We are competing in an area that includes the giants of the Internet."
In fact, Facebook tried to develop a similar app called Rooms, which did not work. If Facebook was not successful, why should Shootr? The CEO is clear: "because it is simpler. Our parents know how to use it because they think they are on WhatsApp. They know they are on Shootr but they are in a comfort zone."
Elias points out that Shootr "is a very courageous proposal because if you are not very honest about the product, you will not succeed." That requires, he adds, "understanding the nature of messaging and social networking apps." This means that it cannot be monetised until there is a critical mass of users. "It wasn't worth advertising Instagram until it had 400 million active users and the same thing is happening with Wallapop," he says. Thus, his priority is "to grow the number of users and to make the audiovisual world understand that Shootr is the tool they have been looking for but did not know existed."
According to Elias, Shootr "occupies virgin territory where no on has gone before. It answers a need that people are currently covering in a precarious manner using whatever tools they have available, basically Twitter." The father of the app references the use of Twitter as a second screen. "Increasingly more people like to see what is being said on the network about what they are watching on television." The problem, he points out, is that "it is not a meeting place, while Shootr is." For the moment, it has convinced Mike Butcher, of Techcrunch.
Shootr wants to be a "topic based Twitter". E.g. https://t.co/GO15hcaoz0pic.twitter.com/t1McYYcilD
— Mike Butcher (@mikebutcher) 24 de febrer de 2016
A Twitter inside WhatsApp
The best thing the reader can do to understand what Shootr is about is to download the app. When you do, after registering (using a Facebook account, for example), you will find a design in the style of WhatsApp. The difference is that in this case the conversations are between groups divided into interests. Television programmes, such as La Riera, Arucitys or Gran Hermano VIP, have their own streams (which is the name for the chats), where all the viewers can comment on what is happening live. As Elias says, "it is the first tool that allows anyone to enjoy a social experience on a second screen."
The head of Shootr says that "WhatsApp is like being with your friends in your living room, Twitter is like shouting in a public square, and Shootr is like being with your friends at a bar." In short, he points out, in a bar you are with your friends, but around you are people you do not know but with whom you surely share interests. "If you are all in the same bar, you will all be of a similar social class, from the same neighbourhood or city, etc. Shootr occupies this space," he says.
The added value in respect to Twitter
The fact that programmes like Arucitys have set up an official stream for the programme "is something we like and that strengthens us," says Ignasi Elias. "They have adopted Shootr because it has potential to reach the entire audience. They adopted it as THE channel. It is a place to meet your people, and is a very warm tool," he insists.
He stresses the fact that, until now, "with Twitter they put a hashtag on the screen and my mother sees only a hieroglyph. Twitter is used by very specific groups of people: journalists, celebrities, etc. Normal people use WhatsApp". According to Elias, "the media has hyped the Twitter phenomenon because they are the ones who get the most out of it."
At Shootr they prefer to speak of a "virtual stand". If two friends are watching Aructiys and they follow Twitter, "as for 95% of the time they will do so in silence, they will not write anything. Thus neither of the two knows that the other one is watching the programme. With Shootr you have a virtual stand, so you can take a look at who else is there and take part or not," Elias points out. And the list of participants allows you to identify your friends from among the people connected who are following the same programme. .
Shootr's origin
Elias rules out talking about Shootr as an "idea. I would have liked it to already have been an idea out there, as for the last two years I have been thinking about what would happen if you brought WhatsApp and Twitter together." The truth is that the app is the result of nearly two intense years of "chipping away at trying to find a solution to socialising another of our apps: Goles Messenger." This alerts you in real time to what is happening in a match and Apple chose it as app of the year four years ago.
"We made it without thinking globally, and to achieve our aims we wanted to give it a network mentality, that could be shared among the fans. In the end we realised that what we were doing was much more powerful than the aim with which we had started," Elias admits. Thus Shootr appeared as a spin-off of Goles Messenger. "It was a little traumatic having to face your partners to tell them you needed another three months...and then having to do that four times," Ignasi Elias recalls. Luckily, he says, "they gave us a lot of support and the result has been worth it. We kept at it until it worked."
The profitability of appsa rendibilitat de les apps
Having come out in 151 countries at the same time "seems more spectacular than it really is. You can make an app with very little money and make it available through the various stores," says the Shootr founder modestly. The issue, he says, is why this type of launch. "It is to position the tool globally. We are competing in an area that includes the giants of the Internet."
In fact, Facebook tried to develop a similar app called Rooms, which did not work. If Facebook was not successful, why should Shootr? The CEO is clear: "because it is simpler. Our parents know how to use it because they think they are on WhatsApp. They know they are on Shootr but they are in a comfort zone."
Elias points out that Shootr "is a very courageous proposal because if you are not very honest about the product, you will not succeed." That requires, he adds, "understanding the nature of messaging and social networking apps." This means that it cannot be monetised until there is a critical mass of users. "It wasn't worth advertising Instagram until it had 400 million active users and the same thing is happening with Wallapop," he says. Thus, his priority is "to grow the number of users and to make the audiovisual world understand that Shootr is the tool they have been looking for but did not know existed."