Meet Peach: The Social App Du Jour for the Kids at Tech's Cool Table

Every few months, a new consumer social app hits the tech world harder than a new Beyonce video. First there was Ello, the ad-free “Facebook killer.” Then there was Meerkat, the livestreaming phenomenon that defined SXSW 2015. Then there was Beme, a live-video app that wasn’t around long enough for most people to even try it out.

The latest app to join the squad is Peach, a Twitter-like network for sharing whatever life updates you feel like sharing with whatever friends you happen to find on the app. Like Twitter or Facebook, Peach lets you share GIFs or videos or your location. You can share what music you’re listening to, or how many miles you’ve walked that day. You can add a profile picture. You can “Like” another user’s post.

Peach

For all intents and purposes, it’s a new way to share all the things you’ve already been sharing on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat. It’s just packaged in a shiny new wrapper.

And yet it’s making the rounds online like wildfire, and everyone in my address book seems to be signing up. Why? Because it struck a chord with “Tech Twitter,” the community of tech journalists, tech investors and tech entrepreneurs who are early adopters of anything and everything the rest of the techie cool kids are using. This influential group of early adopters then heads to real Twitter to talk about said app, and then those who haven’t yet downloaded the app rush to the App Store to see what all the fuss is about. (Android users usually have to watch from the sidelines.)

In this case, the process was aided by the fact that Peach came from Dom Hofmann, a co-founder of Vine. A familiar founder — especially one with prior success — certainly helps new products gain traction.

So Peach is blowing up, and it’s certainly possible that we could be witnessing the birth of something special. But what does Tech Twitter’s early interest tell us about Peach’s future success? Not much, according to history. An optimist will tell you Meerkat has a fighting chance, but Ello and Beme have quietly faded into the distance. One of the challenges of getting such early attention is that people flock to the service and bring their lofty expectations with them. Anything generating this much attention must be phenomenal, right? It opens the app to criticism it wouldn’t normally receive. Or causes it to crash.

One thing you can expect is that Peach will likely get some funding — soon. Ello raised money a month after it hit Tech Twitter’s radar. Meerkat raised money the same month it took off at SXSW. Remember: Tech investors are part of Tech Twitter. And no one wants to let the next Snapchat pass them by.

None of this is to say Peach won’t survive. There are lots of apps that toil for years and never win the attention of the technorati. But for now, Peach is the new kid on the block, and Tech Twitter is showing him the ropes.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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