Choosing an outfit to wear on a date or a color to paint a bedroom can be tough decision that require alternate opinions. That’s why BYU graduates and others in Utah worked to develop the Voto Application.
Voto is a polling app created in Utah, where users can post a series of pictures and their friends can then vote on their favorite. It simplifies asking the “which one” question.
“It looks like Instagram, but it has a series of two, three or four photos with a simple question of, ‘Which do you like?’ and double tapping the photo of choice casts a vote. They are all asking questions with photos and voting,” Scott Paul, co-founder of Voto, said in an email.
Paul said Voto has reached huge levels of popularity. The app was officially launched on Jan. 23 but has been in the Apple App Store since December and will be available for Android this year. It currently has about 100,000 users, was ranked 18 out of all social network apps in the app store, and has beat out apps such as Draw Something and Angry Birds Space.
“It’s really taking off,” Nykelle Schlofman, co-founder of Voto, said. “I think people really like the concept. It’s quick and easy for people looking to get feedback from their friends. Part of it is that our marketing strategy has been working so well. We appeal to early adopters and attracting people who like innovation. It also provides an entertainment that people love.”
Voto was developed and designed in part by BYU graduates and is believed to be the first social network to come out of Utah.
“We are trying to grow a social network out of the state of Utah,” Schlofman said. “We are going up against big competitors and are looking for support. We are trying to keep it in Utah.”
Voto allows users to separate their polls into categories such as “art & design,” “fashion & beauty” and “food & drink.”
“People use the app to ask questions about cars, food, movies and many other subjects,” Schlofman said. “A lot of people use it for fashion, but we are trying to highlight other categories to create more diversity within the app. We want to build a social network that appeals to everyone, not just fashionistas.”
Arielle Harrison, a senior from Orem, said she uses the Voto app when she needs a quick opinion on what to wear. She has also used it to see what movie her friends wanted to watch at a Christmas party.
“It’s a smart thing,” Harrison said. “People do want others opinions. It’s fun to see what people like and what they will post about.”
Voto is unique because the ability to poll is often difficult on other social media.
“I would ask these questions on Facebook, and it worked okay until you started getting too many comments all referencing the photos they liked the most like this: ‘#1,#3, the blue one, the top right, 5th down from top, one and four,’ and so on,” Paul said. “Our app condenses that complexity.”
Paul said many major retailers use Facebook for similar feedback and receive thousands of comments, which makes it difficult to interpret the data. These companies are expected to turn to Voto.
Voto is a platform brands can use to get instant feedback from thousands on trends, colors, design, new products, etc.,” Schlofman said. “Voto is like an instant focus group for businesses to use.”
Schlofman said Voto has been going viral and will only continue to grow. The newest version of Voto will allow users to invite and search for friends through different social media platforms, such as Facebook. She said there are already people at BYU using Voto who enjoy it.
“I think people like validation in their decisions,” Schlofman said. “We’ve created an easy way for validation and feedback.”
