App of the Week: Pheed

Yesterday the Top Free App on iTunes was Pheed (driven to the top by tweeting teenagers). Social Media Parents that you are, do not ask, “Another social media app?” You already know the answer. Pheed’s tagline is “A new way to express yourself.” Through this mobile app you can share  text, photo, video, audio, your voice…essentially you can broadcast your self (or brand). By combining the functionality of Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, and Soundcloud, Pheed is a one stop shop that does all of the above well, where as the others do certain things great.

Using Pheed, a person can create their own channel, their own personal brand so to speak. Artists, musicians and other creatives are some of the first adopters and their content is getting eyeballs.  Teenagers are creative. They love sharing their thoughts and experiences. They welcome feedback. Pheed provides all of that. While some of it may seem too busy for you as an adult, teenagers willingly share and desire feedback. Having someone hear your song or read a post, and then affirm it…that is golden. Will there be jerks and bullies? Probably so, but the community is likely to respond to such behavior.

I think there are some really cool uses for Pheed among friends, families, educators and ministers. You are limited only by your imagination. Your content is not limited to 140 characters, 6 seconds of video or a short snippet of music. Frankly, I’m still learning too.

Social Component: The social component to the content a user creates is the Pheedback feature. Followers can Remix (a lot like retweet), Love or Heartache (a lot like Instagram) and actually post comments (a lot like Tumblr). Unlike other sites, Pheed allows content creators to place a copyright on their works (songs, videos, photos). Along with that comes the monetization aspect, where you can charge for access to your Pheed.

Content Ratings: When setting up your Pheed account, you are given options to set ratings for your account and the content you will see. The standard G, PG, PG-13, and R ratings are set by the user for their Pheed. You also set an additional search filter for content to be restricted or not. It is a nice touch, but for parents there is no way to lock the settings into place. (Note: This is a great place to have a conversation with your teen about what they allow themselves to be exposed to). Honestly, I started following about 50 random people today, have safety filters unrestricted and over several hours have seen nothing that concerned me or surprised me. As with any media, some will use it for more risqué content, but that is a small percentage.

I hope to hear from other Pheed users about their experiences as well. Are your teens using it yet?

1. Annah says:

   February 21, 2013 at 11:00 am

   Thanks for the heads-up!

   Reply
2. Annah G. Hiers (@Annah_Hiers) says:

   February 21, 2013 at 11:01 am

   @b4man72 thanks for http://t.co/zxM5885gAf #SJUMCyouthLE @SCMYP

   Reply
3. Brian Foreman (@b4man72) says:

   February 21, 2013 at 12:04 pm

   App of the Week: @Pheed http://t.co/5Zi3sdOK6x

   Reply
4. Brian Foreman (@b4man72) says:

   February 21, 2013 at 3:03 pm

   .@Pheed hit #1 on iTunes yesterday. Do you know what it is?? http://t.co/5Zi3sdOK6x

   Reply
5. Brian Foreman (@b4man72) says:

   February 21, 2013 at 4:04 pm

   Driven by Teen Tweets, @Pheed hits #1 http://t.co/5Zi3sdOK6x

   Reply
6. Brian Foreman (@b4man72) says:

   February 21, 2013 at 6:09 pm

   Video, photo, audio, text, voice notes, comments all in one place? It’s called @Pheed and here’s our review http://t.co/5Zi3sdOK6x

   Reply