Facebook's recently been hard at work developing a new platform to add to their blossoming entourage of knick-knacks and avenue, by the name of Super. In short, the celebrity world is seeming to be more accessible to the general public, in a way.
Super is a new feature that revolves around the concept of celebrity appearances. Essentially, users can go to the interface, and pay celebrities to make short videos to certain specifications for a sum of money. It's an accessible way of interacting with your favourite stars, and arranging something special for occassions such as birthdays, weddings, and other such celebrations. The app will apparently let celebs take selfies alongside patrons, make short videos with them a la TikTok duets, livestream, and sell their merchandise to a willing horde of fans. This feature, planned to have its own app, is being developed by the NPE Team. Users may recognize them for their other community-based developments such as Collab and Whale. Exciting news coming from Facebook, especially to people who see this as a new accessible frontier. However, this author is almost sure that some people reading this article have already rolled their eyes and said "so, they're copying Cameo, right?"
Well, copy is a strong word to use in the tech industry, but Super is almost certainly being created to give competition to an application already conducting such work with much vigor. Cameo, a video-sharing app, is based around the same concept of celebrities sending short videos to endorsing, adoring fans. Only difference is that Cameo's already shown a massive amount of success in the field. It has over 300,000 celebrities on the platform, has made number 19 on Forbes' list of Best Startup Employers, and has shown solid monetary success. Brian Baumgartner, better known as Kevin Malone from the famous mockumentary sitcom The Office, has alone earned a million dollars throughout 2020. Facebook's got a lot of ground to cover, even if their competition is a sole platform.
Cloning isn't necessarily a word that applies to such an idea. After all, Facebook's tried to break new ground wherever possible. From starting Gaming to combat Twitch and YouTube Streaming to adding Stories into their interface (before they ended up buying Instagram), even if Facebook is no longer a trend setter it certainly chases trends with intense energy. However, such chasing has brewed some storms in the distance for the social media giant. The Federal Trade Commission has recently pursued legal action against Facebook for its quick acquisition of developing platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp, calling this a move to freeze competition in its tracks. The results of such pursuit remain to be seen.
Photo: Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Read next: Facebook Tests TikTok-Inspired Hashtag Challenges; New Comments Section Design And More!
Super is a new feature that revolves around the concept of celebrity appearances. Essentially, users can go to the interface, and pay celebrities to make short videos to certain specifications for a sum of money. It's an accessible way of interacting with your favourite stars, and arranging something special for occassions such as birthdays, weddings, and other such celebrations. The app will apparently let celebs take selfies alongside patrons, make short videos with them a la TikTok duets, livestream, and sell their merchandise to a willing horde of fans. This feature, planned to have its own app, is being developed by the NPE Team. Users may recognize them for their other community-based developments such as Collab and Whale. Exciting news coming from Facebook, especially to people who see this as a new accessible frontier. However, this author is almost sure that some people reading this article have already rolled their eyes and said "so, they're copying Cameo, right?"
Well, copy is a strong word to use in the tech industry, but Super is almost certainly being created to give competition to an application already conducting such work with much vigor. Cameo, a video-sharing app, is based around the same concept of celebrities sending short videos to endorsing, adoring fans. Only difference is that Cameo's already shown a massive amount of success in the field. It has over 300,000 celebrities on the platform, has made number 19 on Forbes' list of Best Startup Employers, and has shown solid monetary success. Brian Baumgartner, better known as Kevin Malone from the famous mockumentary sitcom The Office, has alone earned a million dollars throughout 2020. Facebook's got a lot of ground to cover, even if their competition is a sole platform.
Cloning isn't necessarily a word that applies to such an idea. After all, Facebook's tried to break new ground wherever possible. From starting Gaming to combat Twitch and YouTube Streaming to adding Stories into their interface (before they ended up buying Instagram), even if Facebook is no longer a trend setter it certainly chases trends with intense energy. However, such chasing has brewed some storms in the distance for the social media giant. The Federal Trade Commission has recently pursued legal action against Facebook for its quick acquisition of developing platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp, calling this a move to freeze competition in its tracks. The results of such pursuit remain to be seen.
Photo: Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Read next: Facebook Tests TikTok-Inspired Hashtag Challenges; New Comments Section Design And More!
