With around 4.5 million users, Fling still has a long way to go before it rises to Snapchat’s level, but it has the potential to do just that. How the app works is, whenever you find yourself wanting to share a “moment” with the world, regardless of what it is, you just snap a picture of it and “fling” that picture to anywhere from 50 to 500 randomly selected Fling users. Once these users see your moment, they can reply to it using “reactions,” which act as a feedback system that you can sift through to see how people responded to your moment. It’s an interesting idea that’s strengthened by how well-designed the app is, which is why the British company that develops it was able to raise $20 million in funding recently.
Sending out a message to the rest of the world can be a bold move, especially when it’s being sent to a bunch of random folk. Fling is looking to make the process of anonymous photo and video-sharing safe and harassment-free all while providing a kickass user experience. The UK-based company has 4.5 million users right now that have sent out a staggering 50 billion moments using the service (if that number seems unbelievable, read on). Most of the company’s users are in the heavily-desired 16-21 age bracket and live in the UK and other areas of Europe, though Fling is looking to expand heavily into the U.S. market following their latest update. The company has raised just under $20 million and is in the process of raising more currently. Millions of users and a lot of cash is great, but it doesn’t matter unless your app is cool. Luckily, Fling has a remarkably well-designed app, that’s honestly a blast to use. The premise is simple, in an innovative actually kind of confusing way, but after downloading the app, onscreen directions walk you through the process and you’re good to go. When you stumble upon a moment you’d love to share, which could be anything really, you take a photo and then “fling” it out to the globe, where between 50 and 500 totally random people end up seeing it (hence the 50 billion moments).
