Entrepreneur and music producer Isaac Hayes III hopes his social network Fanbase will be the next platform to take over as current social media giants show their age.
“Most social media platforms in my opinion are older, except for TikTok, which is why you see a lot of platforms pivoting. Myspace is dead, Facebook is a senior citizen, Instagram is an adult, Snapchat is a millennial, and TikTok is a centennial,” Hayes III, son of musician Isaac Hayes, told the Daily Dot. “Fanbase doesn’t necessarily want to compete with any of those platforms. We want to fall in succession as opposed to competition.”
The free social media app, available to download on iOS and Android devices, is designed to let users monetize their content through subscriptions and “loves,” the platform’s virtual currency.
Flickz, a video editor for short clips intended to appeal to Gen Z, drops on the platform later this month.
Fanbase found landmark success crowdfunding through StartEngine.
During the company’s first seed round last summer, Hayes became the first Black American to amass $3.5 million in Regulation Crowdfunding—according to Black Enterprise. Now in its second seed round, Fanbase is well over halfway to a fundraising goal of $2.6 million.
The platform has a current user base of around 200,000, with ambitions to reach one million users by 2023.
Fanbase differs from its social media contemporaries like TikTok and YouTube in a major way for minority creators. The platform will not suppress content in order to appeal to advertisers, an issue that specifically affects Black and LGBTQ+ creators on other social media apps.
“We don’t have algorithm that focus on skin color or content. So if you say something about Black Lives Matter or LGBTQ rights, we’re not going to suppress your content or your voice,” said Hayes III in an interview with Mic.
Users can engage with other users’ content through “likes” and “loves.” Liking someone’s content is free, but using “loves” requires a user to purchase Fanbase’s virtual currency in-app. Each “love” equates to half a penny. Alternatively, users can subscribe to content creators for a price, up to $20 per month.
