While adding an image-sharing feature to our platform, we were pleasantly surprised to see other industries using the exact same technology. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
We live in a world where image-sharing functionality is dominating the social media ecosystem as its widely estimated that 3.2 billion images are uploaded online each day. Snap better known as Snapchat, which grew 8% from last year is one of several companies at the forefront of this social media revolution. Users everywhere are taking a considerable amount of time each day to send photos and videos of themselves to others; it’s a massive part of social media. Snap was key to point out their growth in users, higher retention rates and increase in revenue to their shareholders during their latest earnings release, which can all be attributed to their fundamental feature: image-sharing.
Snap isn’t the only social media network making splashes through its image-sharing functionality. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook all share the same image sharing functionality and all have experienced exponential growth over the past three years. Teens love it, adults love it, toddlers will grow to love it and everyone will repeatedly share images of themselves masked in ludicrous yet hilarious filters because like the kids say “YOLO (you only live once)”
But what does this mean for other industries? Image sharing is much more than just funny pictures you send to your social network; image sharing is slowly but surely revolutionizing industries around us.
Cityzen, the New York City based crime tracking app raised $40 million in July. The app which allows users to upload photos, videos, and track crimes in real time is currently being tested at police departments across the United States. Cities like Baltimore have recently invested community resources into making sure their police department was trained on how to use the app.
Could the same image sharing features that exist in Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter be used to stop a robbery in progress? The public sector is willing to invest resources and manpower to find the answer to this question.
There’s one industry that has already started implementing the use of image sharing functionality: the facilities management industry. Toronto based iRestify, an app dedicated to simplifying operations in the facilities management industry through its next gen cleaning service, rolled out the image sharing capabilities in the app during early 2019.
“Images and videos are now a daily part of most of our lives thanks to social media. We wanted our customers to have an enhanced user experience which is why we brought image sharing to the platform.” Stated iRestify’s Co-Founder, Erifili Morfidis.
Since the soft launch, iRestify’s image sharing features are now available to all users and this functionality is considerably changing operations within the industry. Property managers and facility managers no longer have to physically be on site to quality check a space. Users can see if their facility is cleaned by checking the app and seeing the pictures uploaded after a service. Likewise, clients can also upload photos and videos in order to effectively communicate with service experts. Users now have the unique experience of communicating directly with their cleaning operator through image and video sharing capabilities. Both customers and cleaning operators will now be able to see in real time, how the space looks and if adjustments are needed.
Apps like CItizen and iRestify are extracting your favourite features from popular social media apps and applying it to daily operations. While you’re spending countless attempts on getting the right angle and lighting for your shrimp salad, which you will then post on social media with the caption “Living my Best Life” companies are using these features to simplify operations.
In Baltimore and New York, police are being trained on how to upload images, respond to online inquiries via images and track crimes in real life. In Toronto, both cleaning operators and clients in the facilities management industry are communicating in real time through images and videos that are uploaded to the app; transforming the daily operations in both of these industries.
So what’s next? Rumors are circulating online that Facebook Messenger is working on a Screen Sharing feature that will allow users to share screens within their network. Whatever the case may be and whatever the next big “thing” is for social media, one thing is for certain: industries you’ve probably never heard of are simultaneously implementing these features to simplify their daily operations. Hashtag success. | 
