# Poparazzi

> The app that banned selfies reached No. 1 on the US App Store, then shut down.

- Owner: TTYL Inc.; cofounders Alex and Austen Ma
- Kind: App & software
- Sector: Technology
- Seed date: 2021-05-24
- Peak date: Week of May 28, 2021
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 42 (Notable, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Transgression, Shareable output, Platform jump, Press loop, Controversy

## Summary

TikTok promotion and preorders preceded Poparazzi’s public release and No. 1 chart debut. Privacy complaints and declining chart ranks followed independent reviews and investor posts. It announced closure in 2023; Meta later hired four staffers.

## Timeline

- Feb 2021 — Alex and Austen Ma (App stores) — The team trialled Poparazzi at a Tennessee high school through TestFlight.
- Feb 2021 — Poparazzi and TikTok partners (TikTok) — Poparazzi posted 11 TikTok videos in February to recruit beta testers.
- 2021-05-24 — TTYL / Poparazzi (App stores) — TTYL released Poparazzi publicly for iPhone, with profiles populated by friends.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/poparazzi

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Poparazzi.” Case HIS-00407. Spread Score v1.2: 42/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00407