More than just being faster, it establishes short, content-free messages as a socially valid communication method.
Snapchat wasn't a success because people had been yearning for self-deleting photo messaging or because people found it too complicated to send photo messages with other apps. It was a success because it gave people social permission to send low-pressure, low-expectation photo messages to their friends. Someone who sends a photo of their lunch via Facebook messenger or as an email attachment runs the risk of being seen as silly, superficial or self-involved. Doing the same thing via Snapchat is totally expected, socially-valid and safe behavior, because the medium of Snapchat provides implicit permission to send those types of messages: it's only around for a few seconds, so who cares if it's a bit trivial or silly?
The medium of Yo provides the same kind of implicit validation. You don't have to worry about seeming blunt or disturbing someone or failing to consider the other person's needs, because the format itself makes catering to those worries impossible. So the unique feature of the app isn't the functionality it provides but the narrow and unequivocal use of that functionality that it mandates.
The trend of communication is towards the shortest, least-demanding formats possible. The first big blogging sites were popular not just because they were easier to use than hand-written HTML or complex CMS's, but because they validated personal blogging as a format. Facebook made "blogging" even more personal, trivial and self-focused. Twitter then made communication even less demanding by establishing a format in which it is impossible to create serious and thoughtful content, thus removing the pressure to do so. Snapchat made messaging even more ephemeral and low-pressure. And now Yo removes even the expectation of taking a picture that's funny or interesting, even for just a few seconds.
It seems like what people want are formats that allow them to connect with others and express themselves while simultaneously removing as much pressure to perform or possibility of critique as possible.
I don't have much to say but I wanted to mention that I found your comment really insightful.
Applying that logic, what are some things a lot of people would like to do, but can't due to social stigma? And could also be remedied by an app that doesn't allow you to do anything but that thing. Such as send superficial pictures (snapchat) or contentless messages (Yo).
So much so that it justifies installing the app and then asking people you know to do so too? It takes no time to send a "yo" text with Siri, and if it's a person you have texted recently it's very fast and easy by hand texting too, so it must be really, really easy to make it worth it. I ask because I'm genuinely curious having not used the app before (for the reason that it takes too much effort to justify).
Hold home button down on iPhone, "Text Yo to John Doe", "Send". Done. No need to install an app, no need for the person I am sending it to to install said app, and no need to worry about yet another app being compromised and my data being out there.
Now I'm not knocking Yo, clearly they're doing something umm.. Right? I don't know. But this is getting ridiculous.
...but you do need to look like an idiot by talking to your phone. And then you're in an environment where there's, you know, any amount of ambient noise and Siri will helpfully say "Okay, texting Slow to John Doe" or something else ridiculous. Maybe just "Sorry, didn't catch that." And then you repeat yourself, to your phone, sounding more and more like an idiot, until finally you give up and you get your hands dirty by scrumming around on your phonescreen trying to type out a text. Good luck getting Yo past autocorrect.
Meanwhile, I've sent my Yo. I'm with my friends yoing it up. Maybe we're at a bar or maybe we're at a girl's place at a kick-ass party. But we're there because we yo'd at the door to get her to let us up. You're not even in yet. What even is your life?
I get that tech people are crotchety about new tech, but come on. Get with the program. Join the party. Just yo. http://justyo.co.
This is interesting, because I think the most likely effect will have been to increase sales of Threes, especially since the author of 2048 provided a link to Threes on the page.
