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NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With a commitment to creating an engaging social media experience that is based on the best content, not on identity or influence, Alpha Group, the in-house incubator for Advance Local announces its latest venture and unveils Pigeon. Pigeon is an anonymous, chatbot based Facebook Messenger app experience that transforms how people interact with and share content.
According to Statistica, the number of worldwide social media users in 2018 has grown to 2.34 billion. While social media presence is ubiquitous, there is a growing desire for users to escape the competitive nature and often disproportionate influence power users have on what gets shared across social platforms. The rise of paid influencers and increase in profit-driven algorithms that determine what content is shared has changed the nature of social media and linked it closely to an individual’s personal identity.
“With so much of social media tied to identity and personal branding, we’ve seen a comparison culture emerge where people feel the need to measure themselves against others,” said Michael Donoghue, co-founder and CEO of Pigeon. “We wanted to create a stress-free social media experience where people can share content they find interesting or worthwhile, without having to seek validation or worry about public perception.”
Introducing Pigeon
As an anonymous, content-driven meritocracy, Pigeon removes the anxiety of most social networks and instead focuses on encouraging users to share and vote for the best content to spread across its community. The more upvotes a post receives, the further it travels across the platform. By decoupling identity from social sharing, the app is moving away from the cult of personality that has come to define social media today and focuses instead on highlighting the best content.
Operating in stealth since late 2017, Pigeon has acquired more than 35,000 users at the time of its public launch. Engagement on Pigeon is high, with users spending an average of six minutes each time they open the app, outperforming reported average session times for Facebook (4.8 minutes), Instagram (3.1 minutes) and Twitter (2.8 minutes).
Founded in 2017 by Mike Donoghue, David Cohn, Kevin Wong and Harris Novick, Pigeon is the third product spinout from Alpha Group. The team previously launched The Tylt, a social polling and opinion platform with a monthly reach exceeding 300 million people, and Elsewhere, a video editing app with more than 100,000 downloads in the first year.
Key features of the Pigeon app include:
As Pigeon evolves, the vision is to identify and create other niche communities for special interest groups and individuals looking to participate in anonymous, merit-based social sharing.
Pigeon Leadership
To learn more, please visit http://advancealphagroup.com/or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Medium.
About Pigeon
Pigeon is a Facebook Messenger app that divorces identity from social sharing, allowing the best content to rise to the top. As an anonymous, content-driven meritocracy, the app does away with the stress and influencer culture that define social networks today and instead focuses on spreading the best content. Pigeon is the third product spinout from Alpha Group, a successful incubator for new media properties inside Advance Local Media. Advance Local is one of the leading digital media and marketing companies in the United States, reaching more than 50 million people across platforms. Alpha Group focuses on product development, experimental technology and rapid prototyping. Visit www.advancealphagroup.com to learn more about the company, its vision and partners.
Media Contact
Sian Blevins | Karbo Communications
209-765-6568
sian@karbocom.com