NewNew App Lets You Control Another Person's Life: Why Is it Called the 'Human Stock Market'?

Getting paid by strangers on an app to do what they want you to do sounds like a sinister concept. However, the app--called NewNew app--isn't really all that much alarming.

NewNew App Lets You Control Another Person's Life

Courtne Smith, co-founder and CEO of NewNew, designed the application as a way for influencers and creators to bridge a more meaningful connection with their fans, per BBC. She described her brainchild as "a human stock market where you buy shares in the lives of real people, in order to control their decisions and watch the outcome."

Followers get to be a part of the creator's life by choosing an aspect of their life for them. It can be as simple as what they should wear for the day, to what genre a writer should write next.

Basically, a real-life mash-up of Sims meets Big Brother, meets Instagram Story Polls.

Creators and influencers simply go to the app and ask their followers via video clip about anything that involves making a choice between two options. Followers then get to vote by cashing in $5 to their answer and they can vote as many times as they please. If their vote doesn't win, the followers don't get their money back.

Whenever a vote is cast, the creator is able to receive the money less the undisclosed commission NewNew takes, BBC noted.

Besides voting, followers also have the option to pay extra, $20 or more, to ask their favorite creators to do something for them, like using orange and green paint for the artist's next piece. Creators have the option to decline these "bids" and followers get their money back, no problem.

An app similar in concept is Wishbone. Unlike NewNew, voters don't pay to cast their votes. That's what so unique about Smith's app.

NewNew App Has Heavy-Weight Backers

Smith is a Canadian based in Los Angeles. She was a former member of rapper Drake's management, having grown with him from their hometown. Filip Diarra is a designer and developer who co-founded NewNew with Smith.

The founders have big plans for the app, and it seems like a lot of prominent people see a lot of promise for the app as well.

Smith said Drake is following NewNew's development. Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, is also invested in this novel app.

Leading U.S. tech investment fund Andressen Horowitz and Hollywood actor Will Smith (no relation to Courtne) are also big-time investors, reported BBC. Snapchat has also lent a hand for technical support.

The platform is still in the beta or pre-full release stage with only a minimal amount of users. It's also accepting new users via invite-only, similar to Clubhouse.

Smith is hopeful that they will be able to expand access to allow ordinary people to become creators and monetize everyday aspects of their lives, Floww noted.

Creators: New Celebrities

Internet creators are slowly climbing celebrity status with how much influence and followers they have on their platforms. And social media companies see the potential economy of these creators, allowing them to monetize their content.

YouTube was one of the pioneers of this system, but now there are other platforms that are seeing growth like Tiktok, Twitch, Patreon and OnlyFans. These platforms allow more direct interaction between creator and fans, and creators can monetize from the interactions.

Cameo has also built a similar bridge of connection between celebrities and fans, allowing fans to request video messages from their favorite celebrities or personalities. The key here is the" illusion of intimacy" as Floww put it.

Illusion or not, it allows famous personalities to earn a decent amount of change on the internet.