KOJI – A New Social Platform Based on the Culture of Remixing

Most social platforms have found a way to democratize content production, but TikTok brought the change. Fast Company magazine goes so far as to claim that this young, yet very popular platform has changed the paradigm of how content can be (re)used. TikTok’s popularity rests on tools that allow users to remix existing videos and audio recordings, thus producing the so-called network effect, which increases their value (both of the content and the platform).

Since its launch in 2016, TikTok has been downloaded over two billion times, and the value of ByteDance, the company behind the platform, is estimated to be between 105 and 110 billion dollars, making it the most valuable startup in the world. Driven by the platform’s tremendous success, new players are entering the game, with former Google head Dmitry Shapiro convinced that his new business project, Koji, will sweep the competition and become the largest company in the digital remixing industry alongside TikTok.

Big Expectations

Namely, Koji is a platform that, according to Fast Company, is based on the democratization of interactivity as it allows users to personalize memes, selfies, and virtual games using GIFs, audio clips, and similar content originally designed by independent developers. For example, developers can upload a basic zombie game to Koji, which users then download and remix by changing backgrounds, characters, music, and then share that ‘new’ content across social media. Adapting existing content, current Koji CEO Shapiro stated for Fast Company, is actually a completely new kind of creativity and, he believes, a new phase of digital interaction. Many investors, such as former Disney CEO Michaela Eisner, one of Google’s vice presidents Richard Gingras, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus, have believed in this idea and decided to invest substantial amounts in the development of the new platform. Of course, the investments were not attracted solely by the fact that users might like a new way of expressing creativity, but also that Koji could attract a large number of advertisers.

Koji was initially conceived by 25-year-old developer Sean Thielen, whom Shapiro mentored during his studies. As Shapiro stated about his protégé, Thielen is an exceptional talent, the greatest he has ever met in his life, and has become one of the best developers even though he has never taken a single hour of computer science in his life. The idea of this intuitive creator to democratize software (code) and make it accessible to the masses (for remixing) appealed to Shapiro so much that he stepped down from his position as product-manager at Google and founded the software company GoMeta. This company is the ‘parent’ of Koji, which is described as a ‘cross-platform mini-program’ (!), meaning that after users remix a game, meme, or selfie, that content can spread further across all social platforms and websites.

Growing Number of Fans

Such a thing has not been possible until now, at least not so easily. Or, as Thielen explained, creators should be imagined as interior decorators who no longer have to think about, for example, setting up electrical installations, but can simply focus on styling the living room. Many apps today require an authentication code, account opening, profile creation, payment information, and so on, which is considered absurd in Koji. Instead of all those steps, users only need to take one – log in to Koji and thus enter the world of creativity and interactivity; connect with the developers themselves, other users, and brands.

As an example of the latter, Fast Company cited Burger King and its ‘Moldy Whopper’ campaign that swept the internet. Namely, this fast-food chain decided to advertise the natural ingredients of its sandwiches by publishing an ad featuring the iconic Whopper sandwich covered in mold. Real food rots, the brand conveyed. This message resonated with Koji’s current users who created games in response to the campaign. According to data from the platform, the simple game ‘Burger King’, which the brand shared on Twitter, was played thirty thousand times in less than 48 hours, and users spent an average of two minutes on it. Besides Burger King, among Koji’s fans are Google, Bazooka gum, and even the Singapore Ministry of Education.

User Complaints

The next step for the team behind Koji is to create more precise tools for measuring the effectiveness of individual campaigns and user engagement. For example, TikTok’s greatest value lies in its sponsored hashtags, and Koji hopes to achieve something similar. They also have high hopes for the hyper-casual gaming market (simple digital games with quick access), which was worth over two and a half billion dollars last year.

That is why, at this moment, the platform has the most such content available. Critics of the platform, such as popular influencer Deeter, claim that Koji, at least at this stage, still lacks a stronger element of interactivity. More specifically, Deeter has been posting fan-made content from Koji on his profiles for several months and is satisfied with how it connects him with his followers. However, he points out as a complaint that the content is ‘consumed’ on other platforms, not on Koji. There is a tab ‘community’ (community) on Koji that allows users to browse content from other popular creators, but they cannot message them, follow them, or comment.

This does not mean, Deeter continues, that Koji needs to become something like YouTube or Facebook, but that social element would be very useful on the platform. Although it is not known how much Shapiro and his team accept the expressed criticisms, it can be inferred from a statement given to Fast Company that Koji’s development is just beginning. This platform, Shapiro said, is just the beginning of evolution.

– What cat videos were to YouTube, PEZ candy boxes to eBay, or books to Amazon, that is what fan remixes are to Koji. But all these memes, games, and selfies are not the big idea. It is much bigger than that – concluded Shapiro.

If the passion of the founders is any indication, we will hear more about Koji as a new social, pardon, remix platform in the coming months.

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