How FaceApp’s Old-Age Filter Went Viral
If you’ve paid any attention to the news or social media last week, you may have felt as if you’d been transported years into the future. Feeds full of images of familiar faces filled with wrinkles and facial lines that only time can bring.
No, don’t worry, the apocalypse hasn’t come, and you haven’t been transported into the future. An app called FaceApp has swept the nation and gone viral. The app uses neural network technology to transform the way you look based on a photo of yourself.
What Is FaceApp?
FaceApp is an A.I. driven Smartphone app that can be used to give you an idea of what you’ll look like if you were older, younger or of a different gender. It’s developed by a Russian company named Wireless Lab.
Many celebrities have been taking part in the ‘’FaceApp Challenge,’’ and posting their older-aged selves to social media, which explains the apps sudden surge in popularity.
The Jonas Brothers, Gordon Ramsey, and British singer Sam Smith are just some of the notable names to have shown themselves off.
FaceApp has been around since January 2017, and it all sounds pretty harmless and a bit of innocent fun. Sadly this isn’t the case.
Why Are People Concerned?
There are concerns about Data Privacy and what the founders of the app are gathering user data for. FaceApp now has access to over 150 million people’s faces and names.
The developers of the app have denied that the data will be used for any nefarious purposes and that nearly all photos are deleted within 48 hours of them being uploaded.
The New York Post took a look at the terms and conditions of the app, and concluded that the developers of FaceApp: ”have the right to modify, reproduce and publish any of the images you process through its A.I.’’
This means that if you or anyone you know have used FaceApp then Russian Developers now have the right to do with the image as they see fit.
The topic of Russian interference has been a weekly topic of debate in the U.S. since the 2016 election. So, It will be interesting to see how the FaceApp controversy develops with the 2020 election just around the corner.
What Causes Content To Go Viral?
Whenever something goes viral it can seem random as to why it does. Why do cat memes get millions of hits?
One part is luck, and as seen with FaceApp, celebrity help certainly impacts what content goes viral.
But there are whole marketing campaigns that can help content go viral. There’s a method to the madness and Social Media Management plays a key role in this.
Smashed Media is a full-service Social Media Marketing Agency that specializes in staying on top of the latest trends and helping businesses create a viable Viral Marketing strategy.
You’ve seen first hand the power that viral content can have. Let the experts give you a hand at coming up with a viable Viral Marketing strategy for your business.
