Fast Society today announced it will shut down its group messaging app and instead devote resources to its new app Cameo that will launch next month. Group messaging seemed like such a big opportunity a few years ago. But that was before Apple launched iMessage, Skype bought GroupMe, and Facebook converted Beluga into Messenger. Suddenly, there wasn’t much to add by being a mobile group texting app without OS or other platform integration. Fast Society will apply its existing team and investors towards offering unique value by helping people share moments rather than just messages.
After 9am EST on Wednesday, December 14th, all Fast Company apps will cease to function and messages won’t be delivered. Users should save any photos or other content as it will all be deleted then as well.
Don’t take this as a sign of defeat, though. Fast Society’s co-founder Matthew Rosenberg tells me “It seemed dumb to just quit. We’re not quitters, we’re New Yorkers. We’re used to hustling every single day. It’s unfortunate to have launched something into a crowded space, but the benefit is we saw a lot of people doing it one way and we’re passionate about doing it a different way.”
One area where I see potential in mobile sharing is unifying all the different types of content people usually publish separately. I’d love an app that lets me accumulate multiple photos, videos, status updates, location, friend tags and more behind a single shared link, creating a sort of collage of a moment.
This seems to match with Rosenberg and Fast Society’s mission with Cameo. “We’re trying to capture experience and be part of fun events. Group messaging became the lowest common denominator.”
Fast Society allows you and friends to communicate around fun experiences in your life. It combines group text messaging, conference calling, voice messaging, location sharing, and photo sharing in one simple and elegant interface. It is available natively on iPhones and Android, but anyone with a cell phone can be a part of the experience via SMS.
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