Facebook and Twitter are the leading social media apps, but in the past few years they’ve been joined by additional social networks including Instagram, Snapchat, Vine and Pinterest, all of which seem to have taken the Internet by storm. So what’s the next big thing in the social space for 2015? We bring you five apps that aim to become social successes in 2015, plus a bonus social network that actually pays you for posting.
1. Secret
Secret is a bit different from your normal social media app, allowing you to share secrets with your friends — but they won’t know it’s you. They can then reply anonymously, too. Your secrets don’t just get shared with your friends, though. They can be seen by people nearby and if your friends “love” your secret then their friends will see it too.
2. Kleek
Kleek isn’t its own social network. Rather, it connects to Facebook to allow you to limit the statuses and other data to just the people you care most about. You can use Kleek to make sure only your close friends see your statuses.
3. Wanelo
Social shopping app Wanelo, which is derived from the phrase Want, Need Love, features millions of products from the likes of big brands all the way through to independent Etsy sellers. You might see the Wanelo Save button cropping up on your favorite online shops in 2015, as the network continues to grow in popularity (it currently has over 11 million users).
4. Yik Yak
Yik Yak is a bit like Secret, allowing you to share your thoughts with people nearby. Posts can get up-voted if they’re interesting, so you’ll see the posts that others have considered to be good at the top of your feed. You can also take a look at what’s being posted in other locations, say New York rather than your location of London, if you’re curious about what they’re talking about across the pond.
5. Shots
A rival to the likes of Snapchat, Shots is a smartphone app that lets you capture photographs, or “shots,” through the front-facing camera, which then get shared with other Shots users. You can’t comment on the photos, because the developers are concerned about cyber bullying, so it’s simply a scrolling wall of selfies. There’s also a private chat feature built-in that you can use to talk to friends.
Bonus - Bubblews
There’s no Bubblews app yet — it’s online only —so it’s a bit of a bonus suggestion that could take off in 2015. Bubblews launched earlier this year, and is designed to reward its users for posting by giving them money in return. There are lots of adverts scattered throughout the site, and it’s a portion of the revenue from those adverts that gets shared with its users.
5 new social media apps
