YouNow is a popular and free live-streaming website & app based in Manhattan, where users can sign up for an account in order to stream their own live video content or view and interact with the video streams of others in real-time.
The service is available on their website but is more commonly used as a mobile app, on Android and iOS.
Best described as a “global platform for self-expression” by its founder, Adi Sideman, with 70% of its users under the age of 24, the app is used by many aspiring singers, musicians, DJs, make-up artists, gamers and more, to showcase their talents.
Launched in 2011, YouNow bought BlogTV.com in 2013 and saw significant growth in 2014 and 2015.
MTV partnered with YouNow in 2014 for the MTV Video Music Awards of that year and The Huffington Post began live-streaming a show on YouNow in 2015.
In 2016, YouNow further captured the zeitgeist by working with the producers of America’s Got Talent to enable their users to live stream auditions on the platform and YouNow played host to the final round of live auditions at their headquarters in Times Square, New York.
1. Content Moderation Partnership with Zenly
YouNow handles 150 million different user sessions a month with about 150,000 daily broadcasts. With an average broadcast length of 18 minutes, a huge amount of user-generated content is uploaded each day.
Considering the young age of many of the app’s users, the need for constant and vigilant moderation was clearly apparent.
Inappropriate, harmful or illegal behavior can be a serious problem for the development of a brand like YouNow.
Protecting users from such content is paramount, however, the costs of running and maintaining an in-house moderation department can be detrimental to the ability of the company to grow.
Facing a growing volume of submissions, YouNow began working with Pure Moderation in 2015 to reduce their workload.
Our team of moderation experts work with our unique and specialized system. YouNow simply sends their user submissions to our moderation tool via API. and using our internal moderation tools, our team of moderators are able to sift through and assess the vast volumes of content uploaded each day in real-time.
YouNow and Pure Moderation have developed a trusting relationship that enables YouNow to focus on investing in their own development.
In the summer of 2019, YouNow received approval from the SEC to distribute its ‘Props Tokens’ for investment with a Regulation A+ qualification.
‘Props Tokens’ are a cryptocurrency used on the platform by users to reward content providers they like and admire.
Between July and October of that year, YouNow raised $21 million dollars and saw a 32% rise in revenue.
