You might have heard of Yo.
It’s a new app that has one singular function: it sends the word “Yo” to your friends. The app saw 50k downloads before ever officially launching and has received $1 million in funding.
The idea here is that the sender, and the time of day, and the circumstances surrounding the Yo provide enough context to not need anything else.
The company has also provided an API that lets brands join the platform, which could allow for you to receive a Yo from the World Cup every time a team scores or a Yo from Starbucks when your coffee is ready.
It’s a dead simple app with a slightly nuanced premise behind it, but will it Fly or Die?
In the opinion of myself and Jon Shieber, Yo won’t float forever. The app itself, a product that is poorly built and poorly designed, is merely a fad.
However, the idea of lightweight, contextual notifications is far from dead. Not only are we seeing similar behavior in developing markets, but it actually sounds pretty attractive to even a power user like myself.
