People are different. But when it comes to annoying invites on Facebook, many find that they are more similar to others than they realize.
The culprit? MeowChat. Meow what? MeowChat. At the heart of it, MeowChat is an instant messaging app, much like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, but it is categorized as a social networking app. It does, however, incorporate dating app elements like matching people based on location that made Tinder very popular. And it features cartoon cats, hence its name.
The deluge of invites to install MeowChat came because the app had sent a pop-up message to users asking them to invite their friends. Users are usually asked to invite their friends to use MeowChat at the end of the sign-up process so the pop-up message was directed at all those who didn't do that at the time. This shouldn't have been a problem but it just so happened that the pop-up message was sent all within 24 hours. This means, say, you have five friends using MeowChat and they all said "yes" to the pop-up, you would have received five invites within a 24-hour period.
Many have taken to Facebook and Twitter to show their annoyance but it looks like the tactic (if it can be called that. Maybe Minus was just innocently asking users to invite friends?) was effective since MeowChat is enjoying being the most downloaded app in the UK and Australia, as well as other countries in the world.
So what's MeowChat all about?
Where instant messaging apps typically connect users only to individuals already part of their contacts list, MeowChat takes connecting people together by making random chat rooms available. By default, people in the same country can connect with each other but it is possible to browse a world map and strike up a conversation in any location. To start a random chat, just press the big orange cat at the bottom.
It also improves upon what Tinder has started by matching people beyond location. MeowChat users can sign up using Facebook accounts but can tweak profiles to add as much information as they want. The more information the app has, the better it will be in finding matches to truly define compatibility.
Signing up is easy but this can also be problematic, most especially when the signup age is set at just 13 years old. Random chats can get creepy fast so users must be cautious, although MeowChat has reminded people to never request or send inappropriate images. Both group and one-on-one chats are enabled and both photo and voice messaging are supported.
MeowChat is available for iOS and Android devices.
