Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

New iPhone App Speaks for Itself

A new iPhone application crosses Instagram with Snapchat on an anonymous platform exclusive to Georgetown students.

Unsaid is the brainchild of Catherine Cook (MSB ’11) and a team of programmers who began work on the app over the summer.

“Unsaid is all about the people you see everyday,” Cook said

Unsaid is a free-to-download application, and consists of an Instagram-style feed filled with Snapchat-style photos from other users. As of right now, it has no in-app advertisements, and has no plan to add them in the future.

“It’s not stuff you’d share on Facebook,” Cook said. “When I post to Facebook, I usually post accomplishments, while Unsaid is the place for the other stuff.”

Cook also founded the website MyYearbook with her brother David in 2005. MyYearbook was sold to the QuePasa Corporation for more than $100 million in 2011 and rebranded under the name MeetMe.

Based out of New Hope, Penn., Cook saw a huge spike in MeetMe’s mobile web traffic, with 67 percent of all traffic coming from handheld devices, and she hopes Unsaid will tap into this mobile market.

Cook would like to expand Unsaid to different universities, but currently, users must have Georgetown NetIDs to access the app.

“People like having the school-specific exclusivity,” Cook said.

In order to field-test Unsaid before its release last week, Cook hired more than 20 interns at Georgetown to test the app and garner feedback from the student body.

One of Cook’s interns, Marina Lleonart (SFS ’16), was skeptical at first.

“It was a little creepy,” Lleonart said, but added that by the time she had completed her initial 20 posts, she said that Unsaid was fun.

“My only hesitation was that I was a little uncomfortable with pictures of me popping up without me knowing I was being photographed,” she said. “I think for a lot of people though, it’s catching on, which I didn’t expect.”

“It’s more like Georgetown Compliments than Georgetown Confessions,” Lleonart added.

Cook ensured that there would be consequences for users who might post malicious content, adding that the Unsaid team was in the process of creating an update that allows users to keep themselves from being tagged in pictures.

Cook believes Unsaid has been successful since it’s launch.

“While I was on campus this week, I’ve heard Unsaid described as everything from ‘a Georgetown-only Instagram but anonymous’ to ‘a more permanent Snapchat.’ It’s exciting to see what Unsaid is becoming,” Cook said.

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