Is Daylyy the anti-Instagram social network?

Instagram appears to have some new competition. A recent arrival in the world of social media, Daylyy is slowly making headlines for its concept, which is totally at odds with that of the major players in the sectors.

Forget filters, photos that are elaborately set up and then massively retouched, likes and even comments, Daylyy is betting on authenticity and realism.

“No filters. No uploads. A social platform for users to casually share pictures and videos like a daily content journal. Daylyy is the opposite of current social media. We are not interested in the edited and polished final product. Daylyy is the journey – all the moments in between.” That’s how its creators describe this new application, which is starting to get some serious media attention.

Launched in 2022, Daylyy counts 47,000 users in over a hundred countries, according to comments from co-founder and CEO Austin Anderson to TechCrunch. According to Anderson, the social network is on track to reach 50,000 users by the end of the year.

What makes it stand out?

It’s designed as to give users an alternative to current platforms and their predominance of content that has been run through filters, which are incessantly used by many users, particularly young Gen Z users, despite the fact that the harmful effects of these tools have been repeatedly denounced in studies.

On Daylyy, users can only publish photos taken directly with the app’s camera. Unlike Instagram or TikTok, users cannot upload a photo from their phone. This is designed to prevent the publication of modified photos.

“[Daylyy] is a true reflection of everyone’s daily life,” Austin Anderson told TechCrunch. “It’s a real-time social media app. There’s never going to be filters, and you’re not going to see any uploads. You also won’t see things like vanity metrics or numbers. And, most importantly, no algorithm.”

Since the rise of TikTok, a trend towards greater authenticity on social media has been gaining momentum. Younger users in particular have embraced unfiltered, more natural and less orchestrated content – the opposite of Instagram. In fact, the Meta group’s visually-focused social network has come under fire from several quarters, particularly for its new algorithm.

Meanwhile, numerous studies denouncing the harmful effects of social networking algorithms and the use of filters on young people’s mental health have further tarnished the image of the leading platforms.

One of the many concerns of social media users is anxiety about how popular their posts will be, how many “likes” any video or photo will get. On Daylyy, users don’t have this problem, since they can’t see the number of “likes” on a publication. The same applies to comments. To communicate with another user about a post, direct messages are prioritized.

What about monetisation?

Indeed social media users are making fewer posts and comments on their news feed, as Instagram boss Adam Mosseri admitted last July. Young users prefer to exchange more intimately with others – which is why Instagram has developed specific channels for content creators to offer a new, more intimate and secure format.

“Speaking with a lot of our users, we often hear there are a lot of apprehensions to post on Instagram; there’s fear of being judged, feeling like your life isn’t post-worthy,” Anderson explained to TechCrunch. “None of that exists in the Daylyy community. Part of the Daylyy effect is realizing you can post whatever makes you happy, whenever – no one else’s opinion matters!”

The aim now is to monetize content. “When we get to a certain user mark, bringing ads on is the main way we’ll go about monetization,” said Anderson. “[However], the vision for the advertisements is the same as the people on Daylyy – what you see is what you get.” The CEO outlines that brands too will have to submit to the social network concept by taking photos of their products in real time, to be on the “same playing field as everyone else”. – AFP Relaxnews

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