The video chat app that should scare the hell out of Facebook and Snapchat

Itโs rare that a small startup is able to challenge the likes of Facebook and Snapchat in a meaningful way.But Houseparty, a teen-centric video chat app is managing to do just that. One year since launching publicly (the company spent several months in a stealthy beta), Houseparty has grown to 20 million users who together have participated in more than half a billion video calls (or โparties,โ to use the appโs terminology).
Twenty million may sound like a drop in the bucket compared to Facebookโs billions or even Snapchatโs 173 million users. But the video chat app, created by the same team who founded the once-hyped live streaming app Meerkat, is beating its bigger rivals in one important way: engagement.
The appโs users, 60 percent of whom are under the age of 24, spend an average of 51 minutes a day chatting in the app. To put that in perspective, Snapchatโs average user spends 30 minutes a day in the app. Facebook says its users spend an average of 50 minutes per day, but thatโs across Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger combined.
Facebook has taken notice. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this yearthat the social network is working on a Houseparty clone called Bonfire as part of an aggressive bid to quash the competition.
Whether Snapchat is also feeling the heat is less clear. But as weโve previously noted, there are some rather striking similarities between Houseparty and Snapchat. Both have a very young and very engaged user base. Both apps eschew the typical trappings of a big social network, saying their service is meant more for โclose friends,โ not the whole world.
Both companies attribute this success to their ability to connect their users with their โrealโ friends so they can be their โauthenticโ selves.
โThis feels like a new way for them to connect where they donโt have to be this polished, filtered version of themselves they put out for public consumption,โ Houseparty cofounder Sima Sistani says of the appโs allure for younger users.
Spend a few minutes on the app and itโs easy to see why itโs so appealing to teens. Itโs filled with emoji and other โinโ jokes that might not make sense to the olds.
Thereโs a โghostingโ mode, which lets you sign in without notifying your friends, allowing you to stealthily choose who you want to talk to. You can โpass a noteโ to surreptitiously text message someone in your current video chat without letting the other participants know. The app also just added a groups feature so you can designate specific friends you chat with frequently.
That may sounds like a whirlwind of high-stakes teen social drama, but Sistani says the app is building off social dynamics that have been in place long before there were ever smartphones.
โThose social behaviors havenโt changed in half a century despite major changes in technology,โ she says, noting that things like call-waiting, three-way calling, and voicemail all subtly changed how young people communicate.
Of course, even with the traction Houseparty has, battling the likes of Facebook and Snapchat wonโt be easy, especially once one or both companies start copying core features. But Houseparty does have the advantage of a 20 million user-strong head start. Provided it can sustain the current engagement, itโs not going to be easy for the competition to ignore.
Source:mashable.com