- The app store currently ranks #1 for a new app designed for high school students, beating out all others BeRealTikTok.
- The app Gas lets you anonymously leave compliments to your friends and classmates via polls.
- They are trying to dispel the hoax that human trafficking is causing users delete their accounts.
An anonymous app for high schoolers is currently ranked #1 in the App Store — and it’s surprisingly not toxic.
“Gas” is a social network that’s gaining popularity among teens. It’s named after Gen Z’s term for “gassing someone up”. This is a way to compliment someone, for older readers.
This is how it works: After you have synced your location and contacts to the application, anonymous users vote for their friends in an hour-long round of polls. You can choose from flirtatious confessions or friendly superlatives. A “flame” is sent to your email if you win a poll.
Nikita Bier, Isaiah Turner, and Dave Schatz (an ex-Facebook engineer), created the app. The app is currently available only in 12 states. However, it will soon be available nationwide, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Screenshots of the Gas app
There are a number of social media apps that teens can use to hide their identities. They have a history with exploding. Yik Yak, an anonymous location-based social media app, was also shut down after several cyberbullying scandals. Ask.fm was another anonymous question and answer app. Numerous teenage suicides.
Gas users, unlike Ask.fm or Yik Yak, can only vote for pre-written compliments and cannot communicate directly.
The company “This app was intentionally created in this way to make users feel better about themselves and to show them that there are people who care and admire them.
Screenshots from “Gas” App
The app is currently facing a new kind of controversy. There’s a rumor that the app is involved in human trafficking. Bier claims that 3% of users deleted their accounts after the hoax. According to Bier, the top Google Search query about the app right now is “is gasoline a sex-trafficking app”.
Last week, the Gas app’s cofounder tweeted “This human trafficking hoax has taken on an entirely new life.” “Just received a message asking why a van showed-up outside their home after they installed the app.”
—ashton kutcher (@aplusk) October 20, 2022
Bier says that Gas is a good choice. 1 Million daily active usersand now has 30,000 users per hour. Bier answered a question on Twitter from a user who wanted to know how Gas would be different than tbh. Responded“To be completely honest, I don’t really know,” she said. She added that the “best” part of the app is the messages teens send to her about how the app has helped them with their mental health and self-esteem.
Are you an active Gas user and would you like to share your Gas app experience? Email digital culture reporter Mara Leighton at mleighton@insider.com
