White and Black in Shades of Grey…as well as some Colo(u)rs

It seems as though that an end to the abundance in the release of social medias will be impossible to materialize anytime in the near and distant future. Ever since Facebook, a boom of social medias have been hurriedly introduced to consumers, with each platform holding hopes of becoming the next big trend. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, foursquare…just to name a few. This past Thursday, Color, a photo sharing social medium, was launched for the Apple and Android platforms. Backed by $41 million in venture capital, Color taps into one’s device’s GPS to render his or her whereabouts, sharing photos with anyone using the same application within a 100-foot radius. The lack of control over the photos being shared have raised many privacy concerns, and the simplicity of its use has left many scratching their heads in wonder of the usefulness of this application.

I find that the mostly negative reviews by consumers to be a parallel to Twitter’s launch in 2006. Twitter, like Color, worked around simplicity. With simplicity often comes complexity in searching for ways to best use the social medium, leaving many consumers hesitant in taking time to sample the new platform. 5 years after its launch, Twitter is now seen as an extremely useful medium for areas such as marketing and connecting with celebrities, leaving one to wonder if the same fate will follow for Color.

Some potential uses that may bring Color to popularity:

• spot trends
• warn others of impending danger
• seek potential dates
• meet new friends

With the many incredibly creative minds of this world, Color’s possibilities may be endless. I really think that it’s a question of when as opposed to a question of if Color will become another trending social media tool of this generation.

Some articles on Color:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382571,00.asp
http://business.financialpost.com/2011/03/24/bootup-ex-apple-exec-launches-color-a-real-time-photo-sharing-social-network/
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215037/Social_networking_gets_Color_but_no_privacy?taxonomyId=84
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/24/BUA61IBQMG.DTL