Pheed is being touted as the new Twitter. But just what is it all about?
We know social network fatigue can make it hard to keep up with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and so on. Throwing another one into the mix to constantly check and update might be difficult, but Pheed’s a little different from the others.
It has Tumblr-style post options for text, audio, video, and photos, while it has a character limit for updates. Twitter famously has a 140-character limit, and Pheed supersizes that to 420, which we are assuming is coincidental and not an intentional drug reference. To avoid confusion, your feed is called a channel and updates are pheeds.
What’s interesting here is that Pheed has gone the opposite route of many other social networks. Rather than trying to get as many people on board as possible and try to figure out how to make money off them later, Pheed already has a business model in place.
It lets you have the option of charging people who want to subscribe to your channel. So while the likes of Slash and Chris Brown can try to get a few bucks out of your wallet, you can try to pick up a few dollars by making people pony up before they can see your pheeds.
That’s a huge gamble. Consumers have come to expect a consistent stream of engaging content from pop culture personalities—and for it to come for free. The success of Pheed will likely hinge on users’ abilities to create even more exclusive content, something that incentivizes a subscription fee.
In addition to the text, audio, photo, and video options, you can opt to hold live broadcasts and charge for those too. You’ll split any cash money you might make with Pheed. There’s another neat little option, in that you can copyright all of your posts or just some of them, a great way to dissuade predatory journalists from pouncing on your photos.
The site just had its splashy public launch, and according to Forbes, had 350,000 visitors by Thursday. The celebrities are already there too, including David Guetta ($4.99 to subscribe to the DJ), Miley Cyrus, and J. Cole.
It looks like Paris Hilton has been on Pheed for, like, ever. She has posts dating back to 2011 (when the community was still private), if the copyright markings are anything to go by. Pheed’s own channel sent a horrible pheed to newcomers, urging them to follow Hilton since “she’s been #phamily phrom day 1!” (Thankfully, a quick click on the “I don’t love this” button made my feelings known.)
It’s too early to tell whether Pheed will be a major player or yet another Myspace or Chime.in. All we really know for sure is that a lot of people are signing up and spamming their Twitter followers with automatic tweets.
Please remember to change your share settings if you sign up. Twitter’s already noisy enough.
Photo via Pheed House/Pheed