World News - Download or delete? The latest iPhone and Android app that’s all the rage on social media is causing some Facebook friends to rage against the machine.Bitstrips is a smartphone application that’s quickly gone viral, according to the Inquisitr. More than 11 million users have downloaded it in just seven months and the latest version, released earlier this week, features more than 1,000 templates to choose from. Basically, Bitstrips allows users to “cartoon yourself” by creating an avatar that resembles them and their friends. Digital comic strips can be created with the characters, and captions or thought bubbles can be added to… Continue reading →
World News – Download or delete? The latest iPhone and Android app that’s all the rage on social media is causing some Facebook friends to rage against the machine.Bitstrips is a smartphone application that’s quickly gone viral, according to the Inquisitr. More than 11 million users have downloaded it in just seven months and the latest version, released earlier this week, features more than 1,000 templates to choose from.
Basically, Bitstrips allows users to “cartoon yourself” by creating an avatar that resembles them and their friends. Digital comic strips can be created with the characters, and captions or thought bubbles can be added to create amusing situations.
Bitstrips CEO Jacob Blackstock, who created the app with the Cartoon Network, describes it as a new kind of social network.
“Bitstrips is hard to categorize because it’s not a game,” he told the Baltimore Sun in April. “It’s a new way to express yourself and interact with your friends. Instead of posting the same things as everyone else, you can create something that relates to your life.”
More accurately, it may be seen as a new way to post status updates on Facebook. The app currently requires a Facebook profile to sign up, and therein lies the problem — or fun, depending on who you ask.
In May, Blackstock told NPR that 92 percent of Bitstrips users were young adults and more than one in four are teenagers. But as its popularity soars, will it last when older users get in on the fun?
“As everyone begins using it, you can count on it falling out of favor,” WSFA reporter Tanita Gaither wrote on the Alabama TV station’s website. “When your mom starts using Bitstrips, just delete the app from your phone and run.”
What do you think of Bitstrips? Obnoxious fun, or an annoying fad that needs to stop?
By Geoff Herbert / syracuse.com