It’s Instagram meets Nextdoor – new app Kepo will make sure that you never miss out on a deal again

Have you ever stumbled across a coffee shop in your neighbourhood that you wish you had found sooner, or realised that you had just missed out on a great two-for-one deal at your favourite restaurant? If you are in Hong Kong, there might be a fix for that. Hong Kong’s newest social media app, Kepo, aims to connect you with the businesses and the people in your area. The app, founded by Rey Mui, made its debut on the App Store and Google Play in summer 2022. In a format that can best be described as Instagram meets Nextdoor, the app allows users to post and find content based on their GPS location. The content includes “grams” and “moments” from small businesses, content creators – even your neighbour. Mui came up with the idea for Kepo in 2019. It was originally envisioned as a localised version of Nextdoor, a US app that allows users to connect with neighbours, join groups and discover places nearby. He then brought app developer Kostia Karakai on board and they created a prototype, after which Mui’s wife Henny joined the team. That talented home chef next door? She’s on the Calioo app “We realised that there’s no service serving the need for businesses to expose themselves [to people in the same vicinity],” Mui says. Kepo allows people, especially small businesses or content creators, to connect to nearby audiences in a social, engaging way. It is not just businesses that engage with their audience – content creators and the average user can post their own pictures and videos as grams, which are similar to Instagram posts, or moments, which are like Instagram stories. Users can follow others and be followed, and choose between trending content, nearby content or content from users they already follow. For the latter two, the app adopts a chronological timeline that displays the most recently posted content first, rather than the content that an algorithm thinks will be most engaging for you, like on Instagram. Kepo also deviates from Instagram in three ways: it does not publicly display a follower count, it allows text-only updates like on Twitter and Facebook and moments can be displayed for as long as you choose, not just 24 hours. How Hong Kong student turned GoodNotes into top app store download An option exists for users to import their Instagram and TikTok profiles into Kepo, as long as those accounts are public. As with every new app, there are flaws to be fixed – you cannot search by location or keywords yet, only by hashtags; there is no option to change your username; and there is no option to sign up directly with the app, so users must first create accounts through Google, Facebook or Apple. Perhaps the largest issue present is that the app reveals a user’s general location when they post, even if they are tagging another location. The goal, Mui says, is to make the post feel genuine, so businesses should only post when they are at their storefront. “We never reveal the exact location,” Mui says. “But you can see the social media content posted by the people around that place.” This is a bigger problem for individual users than it is for businesses. Celebrities and influencers may be deterred by the thought that their current location, however general, would be revealed by the app. One solution is to switch your public account to a private one, which means only your followers can see your content and where you are posting from. Technology a new weapon in fight against food waste for restaurants, NGOs “We are experimenting,” Mui admits. He acknowledges that there is risk involved when posting, but points out that – based on how people act on other social media platforms – people generally do not mind sharing parts of their lives. If this data presents real danger to their users, they will be sure to rectify that, Mui says. Mui plans to add a shopping component to Kepo to allow users to purchase directly from businesses through the app. And while Kepo’s user base is still small, at around 2,000 users in Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia, Mui hopes to grow it to more than 100,000, after which he will seek additional funding. “It’s a social media app. For it to show true utility or unlock its full potential, it needs scale.” Mui has high hopes. Kepo, with its more “democratic” approach to content, will allow businesses and everyday users to connect and learn more about their neighbourhoods, he says. “This is the answer to social media fatigue.”