My summary of Slay before using it – Slay is an app aimed at teenagers, aiming to bring some positivity to its users.
How does Slay present itself in the first minute? – “Let the love in” is what it says when I search online for Slay. If I then go into the app store, I realise that the actual app is called “W App”, which lets users “Find out who likes you”, “Complete anonymous surveys”, “Receive hundreds of compliments” and “Share your unique profile”.
Naturally, I’m not the target audience of the W App, but once the user has found their school and connected with friends, the app shows twelve questions, which the user can only answer by choosing another user to pay a compliment to (or “slay”). The user that they pay a compliment to – anonymously – can be from their school, class, or peer group.
The app may, for example, ask “Who motivates me to give it my all?” or “Who has the best sneaker game?” and users can select people to pay the specific compliment to. A user can only see any compliments that they’ve received if they’ve answered the twelve questions.
Slay is Berlin-based and was founded last year by Fabian Kamberi, Jannis Ringwald and Stefan Quernhorst. Their mission is to reduce the negative impact of many social media interactions today. Slay wants to provide ‘playfulness’ and sets out to “maintain a positive first approach”. Apps like Instagram and TikTok channel a lot of inauthentic and influencer-driven expectations, which can have a negative impact on the mental health of young people. In the words of Co-Founder Fabian Kamberi Slay’s goal is to foster positive, safe, meaningful social interactions through the power of compliments and positive game modes in the app.”
Main learning point: Slay feels similar to apps like Gas and BeReal, designed to encourage its users to represent themselves in an authentic and positive way.
Related links for further learning:
- https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/19/german-teens-went-crazy-for-this-compliments-app-and-now-vcs-are-backing-its-next-phase/
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gas/id1641791746
- https://twitter.com/nikitabier
- https://marcabraham.com/2023/02/11/bereal-product-review/
- https://siliconcanals.com/crowdfunding/slay-bags-2-5m/
- https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/slay-cool
As I learn ... 