These beloved General Z applications that went under the radar of millennials

Beyond the traditional Snapshot, Instagram, Tick Tock and now Twitch, start-ups are addicted to social networking and instant messaging and are smart enough to lure the Generation Z. According to a mediometry study, 15-24 year olds spend an average of 2 hours (+ 26%) browsing social networks a day, which is three times more than the French. Here are some of their favorite apps:

Upo, Teen Network

It is a French nugget born in 2015 that is successful worldwide, with almost half of its 40 million users across the Atlantic ahead of the United Kingdom and France. Feedback: Swipe left or right between profiles to invite others to create live videos, chat and share views.

The application is used to create social, virtual or real, friendly and, sometimes romantic meetings. Users are divided by age: an adult, for example, cannot chat with a minor. The company tells us that about 90% of users are between the ages of 13 and 18, with a peak of 16. Founded by three French people, Yupo raised மில்லியன் 40 million by the end of 2020, bringing its funding to மில்லியன் 51 million. The application runs without advertising and is based on the freemium model.

Hoop, make friends on Snapshot

Philosophy? Scroll through the profiles as they are on Tinder and send the contact request over the Snapshot network. The story ends there, and users who want to chat need to exit the app. “Thus they can form a virtual friendship on Snapshot, which rarely leads to an encounter in the physical world”, Explains co-founder Lucas Kerwais. Also, this is not Hope’s intention, which suggests that geolocation is limited to the country. France represents 10% of its 16 million users, the majority of whom are under 18 years of age. Most of the Hoop enthusiasts are located across the Atlantic.

“We decided to stay in this friendly game for security reasons because unlike dating apps, we have a low level of moderation.”, Adds 26-year-old young entrepreneurs, based on its model advertising and in-app purchases – paying for “diamonds” that allow it to add more users.

Disagreement, from gaming to the general public

Originally reserved for “athletes”, Descartes today unites a community of people from all walks of life, especially young people. The US instant messaging site brings together 100 million active users each month for 4 billion minutes of conversation each day. Developed by American Jason Citron, Descart works in the form of servers: each user can create a themed server and other members can join it under one invitation. Then, social media thanks for the text and / or video discussions. While imprisoned in March, many French students and teachers used the platform and were later recommended by the government to teach, work in groups or communicate privately.

At the end of December 2020, the startup raised 100 100 million, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it would launch an investigation into the data collection practices of large technology companies, including Descartes.

Plato, play with friends

Founded in 2015, Plato allows you to play mini-games (bingo, golf, bowling, archery, etc.) with others, whether strangers or friends. It also provides group messaging and public chat rooms. But like most social networking sites for teenagers, she tends to start with flirtatious projects. This, even in a gaming app. Plato works without advertising, but especially allows micro-transactions to customize games. This American application, which was especially popular during the first imprisonment, has more than 30 million registered players, including 5 million active ones each month.