On Why You Can Forget 24 Letters Of The Alphabet

“There’s a new app that has expanded the possibilities for communication by drastically reducing them.” — Stephen Colbert’s recent take on this new app.

YO.

If you aren’t one of the one million iOS users who have downloaded this app since it went viral last week, you aren’t missing much (yet). Or Arbel, a 32-year-old designer from Israel, moved to San Francisco earlier this year to work full time on a mobile application that sends a “YO.” Yep, that’s it. Once allowing the free app to access your contacts, you can send a push notification that says “YO” to any iOS user that’s also downloaded the YO app. Shockingly, Arbel, who only took 8 hours to design the app, has somehow already raised over $1M from investors.

The genesis of this project is attributed to Arbel’s business partner and leading investor Moshe Hogeg. Hogeg wanted a way to page his assistant without having to call or text, as it apparently took too many clicks to send a text message. They claim it takes 11 clicks to send a “yo” text the old fashioned way. I only count six, but in any event, YO beats both estimates by only requiring two.

As the iTunes download page details, “Wanna say ‘good morning?’ just Yo. Wanna say ‘Hey babe, I’m thinking about you?’ Yo. ‘I’ve finished my meeting, come by my office,’ Yo. ‘Are you up?’  Yo. The possibilities are endless.”

I wouldn’t go as far as calling it the future of communication, but we have to accept that this new app is not going away. Even The New Yorker wrote about YO earlier this week, so let’s move past passionately hating this app and think of ways to be more efficient with it. Recalling the last 24 hours, I’ve arranged (via apps, nonetheless) for a stranger to deliver Nutella crepes to my front door at 10pm, as well as an unlicensed taxi to bring me to work during rush hour. The phone call I received from both of them to alert me of their arrival outside interrupted my favorite Pandora station; a simple YO would have sufficed. I received a “Good morning, J” text from my mother, and I thought “my Uber is waiting for me outside, Ma, and I have nothing new to say since we spoke while I was devouring my late-night crepes. I know you’re only confirming that I’m awake and getting ready for the day, just like when you banged on my bedroom door in middle school.” This would be a perfect time for a YO.

Looking forward, how can YO monetize their practically overnight success and convince brands that they need this tool for efficient communication? You could receive a YO when it’s your turn at the Whole Foods deli counter. YO your table for four is ready at Red Lobster. YO the designer boots you have been stalking on Zappos are now available in your size. YO the price dropped below $800 for Delta flights to the Dominican Republic in the fall. Sure, each of the above companies could develop their own apps, and most actually have, but what consumer wants more icons on their already crowded home screen just to receive basic updates?

There must be a million more examples of how to manage basic alerts, but for now I must run. I seem to have lost track of time and the YO I just received reminds me that I’m late to my 2pm meeting. A quick YO in return signals that I’m on my way…