Qork blends Reddit and Yik Yak to make a hyperlocal social network that’s useful and (hopefully) friendly

Highly localized social networks have a very bad reputation right now. That’s due mainly to Yik Yak, the anonymous gossip app that has been plagued by bullying and subsequently banned by many schools and colleges. But a brand-new app launching today is not discouraged, say its founders, because it’s doing something that’s very local but also very different. It’s called Qork.

Ben Goldman, Qork’s co-founder and marketing guy, says that Qork aims to meld the best of Facebook groups, Twitter, Yik Yak, and Reddit to create a social media app that’s local to wherever a user is based. It aims to create, he explains, “a productive community of local sharers.” They can post text and photos related to anything in their area, such as events, stores, or news. Here’s my first Qork post, for example, along with my local social stream:

As it tries to lure in new users, part of the challenge for Qork will be reassuring people that it won’t be full of the kind of abuse that has marred Yik Yak or other anonymous apps like Secret. Goldman explains to Tech in Asia that while such apps have proved “dangerous and controversial,” they’ve also “reinvigorated the idea of hyperlocal sharing.”

Hyperlocal Reddit?

While Qork users can be anonymous, the app – which launches today on iOS and Android – uses Reddit style “upvotes” so that peers can evaluate what snippet of information is useful. A person’s history in the app shows fellow Qork users how reliable and helpful they are, thereby creating the same kind of informal reputation and “karma” system that keeps Reddit humming along – though that hasn’t always worked well for Reddit.

Goldman says he’s a “huge Reddit user,” particularly in r/startups. He admits the team has been “inspired” by Reddit because of all the great communities it has.

While Reddit makes for an apt comparison, he adds that Qork has some elements of Twitter, too. Goldman says that the Qork team hopes the app will be used by blogs and media as well as local people, emphasizing that it could be useful in a Twitter-like way when big news happens. He points to the recent tragic shootings at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo – when such a thing happens, Qork users could switch to the global trending view and zoom in what locals are saying, rather than struggling to differentiate which Twitter users are actually on the scene and are reliable.

Here’s a view when I browse Los Angeles on Qork:

Just because the app is not the exact same as Yik Yak or Secret, it doesn’t mean it won’t suffer the same kind of issues with online abuse, inaccurate information, or libelous comments. The Qork team says they’ve worked with cyberbullying organizations in the US ahead of the launch so they’re ready to counteract such problems. Other possible issues, Goldman says, will hopefully be buried in the social stream because Qork posts “don’t last for long” if they get downvoted by people. He adds that they don’t want to make an app that “furthers bullying or gossip,” so it’s envisioned as a friendly place.