How Frank Can A Politician Be? Frankly.Me Is Testing That Out
There’s a lot of talk about how the social networks are enabling two way communication between public personas and celebrities and the public – the fans, supporters, voters, you name it. We can tweet our favorite actors, DM our government, follow and interact with some of the world’s best scientists on Facebook. I’m pretty fond of this era where there are little boundaries – social and geographical – at lest when it comes to the online world.
This is all an ongoing process – the social media and social networks used to be broadcasting tools as well, but users soon began to crave real connections, share experiences with likeminded individuals, collaborate to take action on issues important to them, and have more direct access to people who were ones just images on the TV or computer screens.
And as brands and public figures soon realised, just being present on the social networks was not enough – you had to engage, and do it richly, trying out different channels and technologies at hand.
Reddit AMA meets video
One India-based startup in the .Me multiverse is trying to innovate the field of social engagement and take this interaction to another level by creating a platform where you can hold frank conversations with public figures and people you know. Naturally, it’s called Frankly.Me.
The way this takes place is video selfies, and you can ask actors,politicians, authors, singers, directors, social activists, entrepreneurs, even your next door neighbour, if you think they have something to say that’d be of some importance to the wider audience.
The main idea behind the app is to expand the power of two-way dialogue enabled by social networks with the video format, that we most often associate with public appearances.
The startup has been funded by a series of angel investors, and has an Android and an iOS app that serve as a Q&A platform. The community then uses the democratic tool of the internet – the upovote- to choose the best questions, which in turn get answered via video selfies. It’s pretty much like a Reddit AMA (Ask me anything) session, but spiced up with the video format.
Although the platform is India-based and focused on the local scene, but it will certainly be interesting to see how the principle works outside the local market, if the startup decides to scale globally.
