What Is the Soul App and How Is It Setting Trends for The Future of Social Media? |
Posted: May 17, 2022 |
Soul app is the "virtual social playground" that made over $104 million in the last year. The app is set to shape the social parameters of the much-discussed metaverse and has been hailed as a pioneer in the space. But what is Soul, and why is the China-based app said to be shaping the future of the social internet? What is the Soul app? Soul is a social app designed for users to make real connections that are both emotional and spiritual. It uses targeted algorithms and some of the most up-and-coming trends in consumer internet to redefine our understanding of the future of the social internet. Each user, referred to as a "souler", creates a virtual identity through an avatar before entering into the "soul"cial metaverse. Avatars are mapped to the user's facial expressions and body language for an immersive sense of realism, and a Myers-Briggs style personality test helps users connect with other people that science predicts they'll get on with. Users then interact with each other on different "planets", each one built around their shared interests. Soul statistics at a glance l Soul is China's 5th most popular social app. l The app currently boasts 33 million monthly active users (MAUs). l The average Souler uses the app for 40 minutes per day and opens the app 24 times each day. l Two-thirds of Soulers were born in 1990 or later. l 2.2 million posts are published on the platform each day. A recipe for success Soul is so popular amongst its users because it combines a variety of tools and concepts that are fast becoming the most important trends in consumer internet. These on-trend components include: Anonymous socializing using avatars: Anonymity continues to be a cornerstone of internet communication, and avatars have been a part of the social internet since its conception. However. Soul's avatars are especially innovative and detail-oriented to create a fun, ultra-personalized, and immersive experience for users. Like-minded communities: Soul's "planets" play into internet users' desires to find a community of people who share their interests - seen previously with the popularity of forums and social media groups. Soul fast-tracks this process further by using a personality test that helps connect users with people similar to them. Content creation at its core: One of the most striking revelations of the development of the social internet in the 21st century has been how much internet consumers enjoy content creation. This is seen across all the most popular social apps today, from Instagram to TikTok. The Soul platform is built with a participation focus, encouraging user creativity. A digital economy: Unlike other social media that rely on advertising to make revenue, almost all of Soul's revenue comes from in-app purchases. The metaverse within Soul features an in-app currency that can be used to buy services and products that add value to the user's experience.
What Soul's success says about the future of the social internet A closer look at the trends shaping the future of social internet An avatar-based social experience Avatars have seen a renaissance in popularity in recent years, with apps such as Bitmoji allowing users to create personalized character versions of themselves to disguise their identity and communicate with customized emojis. This trend has its roots in the desire for anonymous self-expression that has long been at the core of the social internet.
Soul encourages all of its users to avoid revealing their true identity, instead of identifying them with a customized avatar. No name, age or location is necessary, which sets Soul apart from other popular social media apps. The customization tools are extensive which allows users to make their avatar as unique as possible, and "Soul Lenses" maps the avatar's facial expressions and body language to the user's. This means that the user feels incredibly engaged and immersed while expressing themselves in conversations with others. Furthermore, avatar-based socializing allows for a symbiotic connection between the user and their avatar. Communicating through an avatar breaks down some of the walls that might exist in regular socializing as individuals can better express themselves while enjoying an added element of privacy and anonymity. The result is that the human behind the avatar has their confidence boosted significantly by these interactions. And while other content-based social apps face struggles with user self-esteem and privacy, it seems like a logical step to move to safer avatar-based social media. Ultra-personalized communities Forums and chat rooms have been at the heart of the consumer internet experience. Although they have often lurked in the background compared to more mainstream social media giants, the refusal by internet users to let forums and chatrooms become obsolete tells us that they are a valued part of the internet experience. Soul has taken this on board with their app, as every user engages on different "planets" based on their particular set of interests. The planets feature "rooms" where users can text, voice chat, and video chat about certain topics they are interested in. The aim of these "planets" and "rooms" is for Soul's users to create genuine connections with like-minded people. Unlike the first-generation social media networks which are grounded in offline connection and people, you know from everyday life. Soul's circles are entirely intuitive. The algorithm connects users with a varied network of connections based on their shared interests, which takes away a lot of the social pressure which came with first-generation social media. Users will no longer have to deal with the social pressures of which friends will like their posts, as Soul connects users with the people that will genuinely enjoy their content. Users are entirely free from their offline connections. Content-centric Content creation is at the center of the consumer internet experience, as one of the fundamentals of the internet is that anybody can publish content for the world to see. The first and second generation social media became a hub for this kind of content creation, but apps such as Soul are evolving this with democratized discovery tools that overcome many of the social pressures present on older platforms. Soul understands how important content creation is to internet users and consequently places it at the very foundation of the app. Users can easily create their emojis and memes using the built-in templates, and experts are predicting that the app will be able to extend its content creation tools to user-generated experiences as the metaverse grows. The app also follows in the footsteps of TikTok by democratizing its users' content. An algorithm is used to distribute every user's content to users that will like and enjoy it, achieving equal amounts of reach and engagement. In-app economy Soul app is featured its currency called Soul Coins that can be used to purchase in-app upgrades and virtual items. Users can pay to unlock certain clothes and accessories for their avatars and use Soul Coins to buy gifts for their fellow Souler friends. This structure has previously been more at home in the world of video games rather than social media (which has typically relied on advertising to make revenue). However, as the metaverse continues to gamify many aspects of socializing, it makes sense for metaverse-based social media to utilize digital commerce.
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