Shots Continues to Find Traction with Millennial Users

Shots, a mobile app centered around the sole function of allowing users to share selfies with one another, has found itself subject to quite a bit of media negativity in recent weeks. Celebrity partnership with the likes of Justin Bieber has done little to alleviate the problem.

Regardless, Shots has continued to grow; current active user numbers hover around 6 million, according to company reports. Not bad for an app that doesn’t allow comments. (Shots mobile app developers decided not to allow comments within the interface, allowing younger users plagued by bullying on other networks to post their selfies free of snide commentary.) The app is a surprise success in a market already saturated with image-sharing social networks and selfie-centric media.

Whether or not the app will find an audience outside the teen and millennial demographics remains to be seen; Shots CEO John Shahidi is prioritizing connection with those demographics, as evidenced by their producing of an ironic talk show hosted by Vine star Rudy Mancuso. That being said, it’s an approach that makes sense given that their average user is 16 years old.

The program, “Awkward Puppets,” features mock interviews with a variety of celebrities, as well as skits and a heavy dose of cross-cultural commentary (in keeping with Mancuso’s Vine personality). So far only one episode has aired, featuring (unsurprisingly) Justin Bieber. Love it or hate it, what’s interesting to note for mobile app developers is that the show doesn’t feature any sort of heavy by-line back to the Shots brand.

In fact, company reports confirm that Shahidi and his team of Los Angeles iPhone app developers plan to allow the show to stand alone, trusting that media-savvy millennial users will find the connection to the Shots brand on their own. In a market where mobile retention for millennial users has become tricky to predict, the mobile app developers at shots may have hit on the magic formula: keep it simple and keep it positive.