Amino (app)

Last updated

Amino
Developer(s) MediaLab
Initial releaseJanuary 2012
Stable release
3.5.35167 / May 21, 2024
Operating system Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows (Web), macOS (Web), ChromeOS (Web), Oracle Solaris (Web) (No longer supported)
Size 21.02 MB
Available in7 languages
List of languages
English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, French, and German [1]
Website aminoapps.com

Amino is a social media application originally developed by Narvii, Inc. It was originally created by Yin Wang and Ben Anderson in 2012, and then launched as an app in 2016. Amino was acquired by MediaLab in January 2021, and the founders are no longer associated with the application.

Contents

History

In 2012, Wang and Anderson came up with the idea for a convention-like community while attending an anime convention in Boston, Massachusetts. [2] Later that year, they would release two apps revolving around K-pop and photography that allowed fans of those subjects to chat freely.

In 2012, Amino was officially released.[ citation needed ]

Growth

Amino received 1.65 million dollars of seed funding in 2014, primarily from Union Ventures. Some additional seed investors include Google Ventures, SV Angel, Box Group, and other interested parties. [3]

By July 2014, Amino's apps were downloaded 500,000 times. [3] Though only having 15 communities at that time, Amino eventually grew to have 41 communities in September 2015. [3] [4] Amino's apps had been downloaded 13 million times by July 2016. [5] Fandoms had migrated from websites like Facebook and Reddit to Amino, partly because of the app's mobile-native experience.[ citation needed ]

Before 2016, when a user wanted to join a new Amino, they had to download another app for the Amino they wanted to join. In 2016, Amino Apps launched a centralized portal that hosted every Amino community in one app, meaning users no longer had to download multiple apps. [6]

In July of the same year, ACM, an app that allowed users to create their own communities, was launched. [7] This resulted in the number of communities on Amino skyrocketing to over 2.5 million as of June 2018. [8]

Features

The main feature of Amino is communities dedicated to a certain topic that users can join. Users can also chat with other members of a community in three ways, text, voice, or screening room, which allows users to watch videos together while voice chatting. [9] Other features include polls, blog posts, image posts, wiki entries, stories, and quizzes. In some cases, posts that are very well-made and have been noticed by a community's administration will end up receiving a feature, making it appear on the front page along with other featured content. [10]

In 2018, a premium membership option called Amino+ was added. Amino+ comes with additional features such as exclusive stickers, the ability to make stickers, custom chat bubbles, high resolution images, and other perks. [11] Membership can be purchased with money or Amino coins. Amino coins can be purchased or earned through enabling ads, watching ad videos, completing activities on the Offer Wall, and playing Lucky Draw when checking in. [12] Members can give and receive coins through props. [13]

In 2019, Amino introduced six original short-form animated series, labelled "Amino Originals," produced by independent artists from across the internet. [14] [15] ATJ's "Little Red," a re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood, premiered on November 15, 2019. [16] "Little Red" was joined by five other shows in late December. Sophie Feher's "The Reef," a comedy featuring an aspiring marine biologist meeting a merman, premiered on December 27 alongside "Princely," an LGBT fairy tale created by Matt Bruneau-Richardson of Tiny Siren Animation. [17] [18] [19] "Spaced Out," an alien abduction comedy by Michael Jae, and YouTuber Alex Clark's "Wyndvania II" premiered on December 28. [20] [21] Mysie Pereira's fairy tale "Turned to Stone" and Marcin Pawlowski's "Stranded" premiered on December 29, 2019. [22] [23]

Administration

On each community, there are two types of staff members, these being ‘Leader’ and ‘Curator.’ Leaders are higher rank than curators. Curators are usually the ones who feature posts, or post important announcements for users to see. [24]

Curators are able to disable a post or public chat, delete comments or chat threads, manage featured content, manage posts in topic categories, and approve Wiki entries. [24]

Leaders have more power than curators. In addition to curator powers, leaders can submit a community to be listed, change the Amino's features, change navigation, alter the community appearance, change the Amino's privacy settings, manage the Amino's join requests, send invites, appoint or demote Curators, strike or ban members, manage flagged content, change users' custom titles, manage topics and wiki categories, and create broadcasts (notifications sent for posts). [24]

One leader will have the status of agent. An agent is the primary leader of a community; the person who created the community is automatically agent. [25] An agent has the ability to delete their community as long as it is not too large or too active. [26] An agent can appoint and remove both leaders and curators. [27] Agent status can be transferred voluntarily to another leader, curator, or community member. [28] If an agent is inactive, Team Amino may assist in transferring agent status. [26]

Apps

Amino Community Manager

Otherwise known as ACM, this application is what users use to create and manage their own community in Amino. [29] [30] This app allows moderators to customize a community's theme, icon, and categories. [29] ACM also allows moderation to customize community descriptions, pick leaders, change language settings, create a tagline for the community, change the home page lay out, alter the side navigation menu, and more. [31] [32] Unlisted communities are able to change their community's title and Amino ID, but this is not an option once a community is listed. [32] A leader can use ACM to submit a request for their community to be listed on the explore page, after which the community will be reviewed by Team Amino for approval. [33] Communities can be deleted on ACM, but only by the agent of that community. [26]

Guidelines

Amino has a set of guidelines that all communities must comply with. Amino does not allow harassment or hate, spam or self-promotion (including promotion of one's own Amino community), sexual/NSFW content*, self harm, real graphic/gross content (fictional content is generally acceptable), unsafe/illegal content, or content that violates copyright. [34] Communities are allowed to have additional rules so long as they do not violate Amino's rules. [34] In addition to Amino's rules, users are required to be at least 13 years of age in the U.S. and 16 years of age in European Union countries. [35] While sexual imagery is not allowed in any community and text based sexual content is not allowed in public areas, some private communities are allowed to discuss sexual themes. However, they are not exempt from Amino's rules on NSFW content. [34]

If guidelines are broken, a leader may disable content or impose a warning, strike, or ban, depending on the severity of the infringement. [36] [37] A warning is a message informing the user that they have violated a guideline and may face further punishment unless they change their behaviour. [36] A strike will put the user in read-only mode for up to 24 hours; this mode prevents the user from posting, chatting, or interacting with posts in that community. [36] A ban removes the user from the community. [36] Team Amino can separately give strikes or bans across the entire platform. [37] [38]

Related Research Articles

The landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols. Clients that use the same protocol can typically federate and talk to one another. The following table compares general and technical information for cross-platform instant messaging clients in active development, each of which have their own article that provide further information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imgur</span> American online image hosting service

Imgur is an American online image sharing and image hosting service with a focus on social gossip that was founded by Alan Schaaf in 2009. The service has hosted viral images and memes, particularly those posted on Reddit.

Kik Messenger, commonly called Kik, is a freeware instant messaging mobile app from the Canadian company Kik Interactive, available on iOS and Android operating systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instagram</span> Social media platform owned by Meta Platforms

Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with preapproved followers. Users can browse other users' content by tags and locations, view trending content, like photos, and follow other users to add their content to a personal feed. A Meta-operated image-centric social media platform, it is available on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and the web. Users can take photos and edit them using built-in filters and other tools, then share them on other social media platforms like Facebook. It supports 32 languages including English, Hindi, Spanish, French, Korean, and Japanese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WhatsApp</span> Messaging and VoIP service owned by Meta Platforms

WhatsApp is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinterest</span> American social media platform

Pinterest is an American social media service for publishing and discovery of information in the form of pinboards. This includes recipes, home, style, motivation, and inspiration on the Internet using image sharing. Pinterest, Inc. was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp, and is headquartered in San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twitch (service)</span> American live-streaming platform

Twitch is an American video live-streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to offering music broadcasts, creative content, and "in real life" streams. Twitch is operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. It was introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv. Content on the site can be viewed either live or via video on demand. The games shown on Twitch's current homepage are listed according to audience preference and include genres such as real-time strategy games (RTS), fighting games, racing games, and first-person shooters.

Shadow banning, also called stealth banning, hellbanning, ghost banning, and comment ghosting, is the practice of blocking or partially blocking a user or the user's content from some areas of an online community in such a way that the ban is not readily apparent to the user, regardless of whether the action is taken by an individual or an algorithm. For example, shadow-banned comments posted to a blog or media website would be visible to the sender, but not to other users accessing the site.

WeChat or Weixin in Chinese ; lit. 'micro-message') is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018 with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has been described as China's "app for everything" and a super-app because of its wide range of functions. WeChat provides text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, video conferencing, video games, mobile payment, sharing of photographs and videos and location sharing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Line (software)</span> Freeware instant communications app

Line is a freeware app and service for instant messaging and social networking, operated by the Japanese company LY Corporation, co-owned by SoftBank Group. Line was launched in Japan in June 2011 by NHN Japan, a subsidiary of Naver.

Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients. The app has evolved from originally focusing on person-to-person photo sharing to presently featuring users' "Stories" of 24 hours of chronological content, along with "Discover", letting brands show ad-supported short-form content. It also allows users to store photos in a password-protected area called "My Eyes Only". It has also reportedly incorporated limited use of end-to-end encryption, with plans to broaden its use in the future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telegram (software)</span> Cross-platform instant messaging service

Telegram Messenger, commonly known as Telegram, is a cloud-based, cross-platform, social media and instant messaging (IM) service. It was originally launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android on 20 October 2013. It allows users to exchange messages, share media and files, and hold private and group voice or video calls as well as public livestreams. It is available for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and web browsers. Telegram offers end-to-end encryption in voice and video calls, and in optional private chats, which Telegram calls Secret Chats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discord</span> Online communication software

Discord is an instant messaging and VoIP social platform which allows communication through voice calls, video calls, text messaging, and media. Communication can be private or take place in virtual communities called "servers". A server is a collection of persistent chat rooms and voice channels which can be accessed via invite links. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Linux, and in web browsers. As of 2024, the service has about 150 million monthly active users and 19 million weekly active servers. It is primarily used by gamers, although the share of users interested in other topics is growing. As of March 2024, Discord is the 30th most visited website in the world with 22.98% of its traffic coming from the United States. As of March 2022, Discord employs 600 people globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Spaces</span> Discontinued mobile app for group discussions and messaging developed by Google

Google Spaces was a mobile app for group discussions and messaging developed by Google. The app was intended to compete with Slack as a content sharing platform where users can create a "space", invite their friends for discussion, and share videos, images, text, and other media. Google services such as the web browser Chrome, search engine Google Search, and video sharing platform YouTube were built into the app to allow users to source content from them. Google Spaces launched on May 16, 2016, available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS operating systems. The app was discontinued on April 17, 2017. The Spaces brand name was revived for a feature in Google Chat, formerly named Rooms.

<i>Xuexi Qiangguo</i> App for learning Xi Jinping Thought

Xuexi Qiangguo is a Chinese mobile app primarily designed to teach Xi Jinping Thought. It is designed by Alibaba Group. As of October 2019, it has more than 100 million active users and was the most downloaded item on Apple's domestic App Store, surpassing social media apps such as WeChat and TikTok, before being overtaken by the National Anti-Fraud Center app, an anti-fraud educational app.

r/wallstreetbets Subreddit dedicated to stock market and options trading

r/wallstreetbets, also known as WallStreetBets or WSB, is a subreddit where participants discuss stock and option trading. It has become notable for its colorful jargon, aggressive trading strategies, stories of extreme gains and losses acquired in the stock market, and for playing a major role in the GameStop short squeeze that caused significant losses for a number of US hedge funds and short sellers for a duration of time in early 2021.

Comparison of user features of messaging platforms refers to a comparison of all the various user features of various electronic instant messaging platforms. This includes a wide variety of resources; it includes standalone apps, platforms within websites, computer software, and various internal functions available on specific devices, such as iMessage for iPhones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clubhouse (app)</span> Audio-based social networking service

Clubhouse is a social audio app for iOS and Android.

Social audio is a subclass of social media that designates social media platforms that use audio as their primary channel of communication. This can include text messages, podcasts, tools for recording and editing audio in addition to virtual audio rooms. Still in an evolutionary state, different companies that develop social audio products are still trying to figure out what works for their users, and what doesn't.

References

  1. ↑ "Language". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  2. ↑ Varshney, Apekshita (August 23, 2018). "Amino App Communities Is Where Real Fandom Is". Techweek. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Amino Raises $1.65M To Replace Old-School Forums With Mobile Communities". TechCrunch. July 8, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Amino Raises $6.5M To Build Mobile Communities". TechCrunch. September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  5. ↑ "This Under-the-Radar Social Network for Nerds Just Raised $19 Million". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  6. ↑ Matsakis, Louise (February 13, 2018). "Amino Apps Makes the Case for Anonymity Online". Wired . Condé Nast.
  7. ↑ Popper, Ben (July 12, 2016). "This is what Reddit would look like if it was born in the mobile era". The Verge. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  8. ↑ Ha, Anthony (June 12, 2018). "Amino raises $45M to bring fan communities to smartphones". TechCrunch . Verizon Media . Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  9. ↑ Popper, Ben (July 12, 2016). "This is what Reddit would look like if it was born in the mobile era". The Verge . Vox Media . Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  10. ↑ Tracy, Phillip (March 31, 2018). "The 8 Best Social Media Alternatives to Facebook". The Daily Dot . Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  11. ↑ "What is Amino+?". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Coins". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Give Props". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Amino Originals". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Meet the Artists". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Little Red". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  17. ↑ "The Reef". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Princely". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  19. ↑ ""Princely," an Amino Original, premieres December 27th". Tiny Siren Animation. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Spaced Out". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Wyndvania". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Turned to Stone". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Stranded". Amino Apps. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  24. 1 2 3 "Leaders vs. Curators". Amino Help Center. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  25. ↑ "First Steps". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  26. 1 2 3 "Deleting a Community". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  27. ↑ "Adding Leaders and Curators". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Transferring Agent Status". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  29. 1 2 "Amino Community Manager - ACM - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Downloading ACM". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Community Navigation". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  32. 1 2 "General Settings". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  33. ↑ "Listing Your Community". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  34. 1 2 3 "Community Guidelines". Amino Help Center. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  35. ↑ "Age Requirement". Amino Help Center. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  36. 1 2 3 4 "Amino Apps FAQs". Comparably. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  37. 1 2 "Moderation". Amino Help Center. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  38. ↑ "$ >[V8V88V8V88]_ | Indian Amino". Indian | aminoapps.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.