Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed how social media has taken center stage in our reality, influencing policy, and sometimes even dictating them. The social media power has embedded itself even more into our daily lifelines as the world goes in and out of lockdowns.
Movies like Netflix’s ‘The Social Dilemma’ further expose the amount of manipulating clickbait content that we perceive as various degrees of truth, the question then needs to be asked - is there a healthier alternative to the endless stream of mostly irrelevant content?
Forget mindless content, feed your need to read
Well, like with every tough problem, Israeli minds set to work to find a solution, or at least, bring us one step closer to one. Israeli startup Listory emerges from stealth mode with Seed funding but more importantly, the launch of its refined content social media app.
Listory aggregates and handpicks the most relevant stories, articles, podcasts, or videos that are based on your personal taste. The company states that its algorithms scan from a database of newsletters and curators in each field and refine the content before displaying it on the user’s personal feed, in addition to providing the user the control over specific content exposure. Moreover, the app uses the people you follow and your content consuming data to tailor your feed based on what truly interests you.
Imagine that generic mainstream social media is kind of like the drunk guy cracking beer cans on his forehead while edging you to “have another one”, while Listory’s refinery engine aims to be the clean-cut wine sommelier that guides you through your quest of educated flavors that are recommended based on their pairing and most importantly, based on the diners personal taste. The refined content app even challenges its users to beat the algorithm by finding more relevant content; Listory will even pay $0.10 if users can prove them wrong.
”We’re excited and thankful for the investor support and user adoption and we’re eager to keep refining our content. That’s why we invite our users to challenge us, on a daily basis, to show that we truly believe in the content we present them with. Through this challenge, we’ll get to know our users even better, keep improving our platform, and most importantly, provide the best content experience for everyone," said Listory’s CEO Yaniv Gilad.
In addition to the launch, Listory also announced a $4 million Seed round. The investment was led by Viola Ventures, Globis Capital, and Rhodium. The company was founded in March 2020 by Yaniv Gilad (CEO) and Yaron Galai (Active Chairman) after completing a management buyout from Outbrain, the world's leading discovery platform.
Yaron Galai, Outbrain Founder & CEO and Listory’s Chairman said: “Listory is measuring your delight and appreciation rather than attention and infinite scrolling. Unlike many other social feeds, Listory is an opinionated, mission driven app that is shaping new content consumption habits while helping you get smarter and happier”.