Lessismorefor Shane’sLIMOR podcastapp
‘IT’S good to talk’...or so the old BT ads in the 90s used to say.
In the last few decades the spoken word has been usurped by text, but a Drogheda man is reversing that with ‘ LIMOR’, a new app that claims to combine the best aspects of social media with audio and podcasting in a way that has never been done before. In essence, he’s creating a new form of social media, that of ‘social audio’.
“This app is so simple, that if you can talk, you can use it,” explains LIMOR founder and CEO Shane Monahan, a former Leinster, Connacht, Munster and Gloucester rugby player. “Limor allows users to record, edit, share, listen and reply to audio and traditional podcasts in a social media environment instantly from their smart device ‘on the go’ and see that content go viral.”
Shane first got the idea for the new platform when he was painting portraits in Gloucester.
“I know it’s not something you usually associate with rugby players,” he says with a laugh, “but when I was painting, I couldn’t read or text at the same time, so I got into listening to podcasts. “But even those don’t allow you to be interactive, and one of the major problems we solve with LIMOR is interacting with your audience. You can now have a firsthand conversation, which is advancing traditional podcasts dramatically, which really haven’t evolved in ten years.”
Another solution is to that of barrier to entry, as the app is so simple, even his dad Peter, as well-known lobbyist for City Status in Drogheda, can use it!
“He actually wanted to spread the word about the work being done by his voluntary group, and I suggested he should make his own podcast and start sharing it on social media,” explains Shane.“Although initially very keen on the idea, like many, he immediately lost interest when the details of producing a traditional podcast were explained to him. It was too complicated, too expensive and far too time consuming. So, I asked myself, how do I make the process of recording and sharing a traditional podcast so easy even my dad can do it? The answer was LIMOR.”
Based in Newgrange Business Park, Shane says the company is 100% Irish, and at the moment is just him and digital marketing expert Conor Heavey, but expansion is on the cards.
“We’ve just tied in with the website RugbyPlayersIreland and for obvious reasons, sport is an area we are targetting,” says Shane. “Even if you don’t like sport, everyone has an opinion on it, and it’s going to be a big year for rugby with the World Cup.”
The announcement of that partnership said the players had ‘joined the conspiracy’! Isn’t that a bad thing?
“The word ‘conspiracy’ has many negative connotations and is often used to describe the apparent activities of secret societies, and secret world governments in their pursuit of world domination,” he says with a smile. “I can assure you that is certainly not the case at LIMOR.”
In fact, the word conspiracy and the tagline ‘join the conspiracy’ is a playful tribute to the ring-tailed Lemur and a friendly call to action by the LIMOR founder.
“The name LIMOR is actually an acronym formed as an abbreviation of the words ‘ less is more’. This is the company name and the principal design philosophy of the app since its foundation.
“One of Limor’s stand out features which truly ties into the social audio mantra is the voice commenting function. This feature allows Limor users to spark audio conversations underneath original cast content. These voice comments can be supplemented by traditional text comments.”
A user can interact with a content creator or podcaster by speaking to them directly via a communal thread. Traditional text commenting is available alongside the audio comments for those who prefer to write.
“Right now, there is no other social media application in the world which can do this,” he says proudly.