An app that encouraged users to “get your rebel on, get your party on” despite the pandemic has apparently been removed from most corners of the internet.
What We Know:
- Vybe Together appeared to promote secret, invite-only parties, according to an archived version of a now-removed website. The deleted FAQ page said the platform was meant to promote smaller gatherings rather than big parties, The Verge reported. The app’s domain was registered this year, according to Business Insider, but it earned more widespread criticism on Tuesday after New York Times technology reporter Taylor Lorenz tweeted about it.
Some terrible people built a whole app for finding and promoting COVID-unsafe large, indoor house parties and they’re using TikTok to market it to millions of ppl. pic.twitter.com/zYhBiFH4vR
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) December 29, 2020
- The exclusive private party iOS app that promised no randoms has been removed from Apple’s App Store and banned from TikTok. The spokesperson said the account was removed for violating community guidelines and said it did not advertise on the platform. They have also erased its website and most of its social media accounts. A message from FOX Business seeking comment from Vybe Together wasn’t immediately returned.
- According to Fox Business, it remains a mystery if party invites on the app, which was co-founded by New York University student and Swedish native Alexander Dimcevs, spread the deadly virus being that the platform advertised gatherings every weekend. A spokesperson told The Verge on Wednesday that Vybe Together had been designed to help people organize small gatherings in parks or apartments during COVID.
- NBC News reached out to Dimcevski for a comment, and he told Business Insider that the app has yet to throw any large parties and that its TikTok was over-the-top marketing. “We do not condone large, unsafe parties during a pandemic,” Dimcevski told Business Insider. As of Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that Dimcevski had either deleted or deactivated his LinkedIn account.
Currently, it appears that Vybe Together still exists on Instagram, where the account has approximately 840 followers and has two posts up.
