The WhatsApp thriller that went viral
Derailed: that was the name of the first WhatsApp thriller in the Netherlands. Early last year you could follow this bloodcurdling story of NS. Simply, via WhatsApp. As if you are secretly reading along with a chat conversation between others. That is what it feels like to read chat fiction: a story written as a conversation , told via an app.
All you had to do to experience the story was send a message to an unknown number. Via this number you would receive a number of contacts, the main characters of the story, which you had to save in your phone. And voila, you received about 210 text, photo and video messages that together told the story. A nice combination of what train passengers like to do best: reading, texting and watching videos.
Screenshot of the 1st chat fiction WhatsApp thriller from NS, derailed.
It is therefore not surprising that this campaign went viral. With 10,000+ registrations, a media reach of 6,200,000 and a media value of no less than €700,000 a nice stunt. This form of storytelling appeals to me! Just like many other millennials and young people from Generation Z.
The chat fiction app Hooked (literally)
The popular chat fiction app Hooked has 40 million monthly active users. Almost 70% of Hooked readers are under 25 years old. They claim to be the 'Netflix for Generation Z'. Hooked's stories are displayed as if you are scrolling through a chat message. For this app you do not have to add contacts yourself, the stories are in the platform itself.
This way of storytelling is: “ an organic representation of how people communicate each day ,” according to Kevin Ferguson , chief business officer of Hooked. Because you have to tap the screen for the next message, this way of storytelling lends itself particularly to horror and romance . This is because you can easily build up the tension. These are also the most read genres in this app.
The average Hooked story consists of 1,300 words. These stories are just as long as the average article phone number library on Frankwatching. Of course not nearly as many words as a novel, but (much) longer than, for example, posts on social media. Curious? Below you will find a video of the first episode of the Hooked series Dark Matter (Something Behind You…).
In fact, all three are the same. The biggest difference is that in the Tap app you can also write your own chat fiction and share it with your friends. In this, young people can also give free rein to their own creativity.
Chat fiction: also interesting for companies
Some companies with (among others) teenagers as a target group have also discovered chat fiction and are using its popularity. For example, Skype and Dunkin' Donuts are writing branded content for the Yarn app.
Take for example the story 'Mom's Secret' from Skype. In this story the main characters occasionally talk via Skype and share videos and photos with each other via Skype. So it is actually just product placement , but it is not noticeable and therefore not distracting .
Skype's first two stories were viewed more than 5 million times and had a click through rate of 6.3 percent. Quite interesting for companies too.