“We've seen a big rise of inauthentic content online. There’s a lot of tweets or posts from influencers. There’s a lot of sponsored content from brands, which is trying to disguise itself, but consumers are savvy and they know that they're being sold,” says Shaffer. “We’re trying to create a community where users can share product recommendations with each other, totally free of paid content.”

So how exactly does the app work? Upon creating a profile, Masse users may ask for a recommendation. A current example includes, “I’m looking for an old school coffee machine, drip, not Nespresso. Any ideas?” Fellow Masse-mates can then respond with any item within the app’s catalogue of objects (there’s a full inventory from Jet, Glossier, Maisonette, Sephora) or go beyond and cull from the entire world wide web, accompanied with a personal review/recommendation. In this case, a Mr. Coffee Maker fit the bill. And afterwards, as Brockhoff explains, “it’s human nature to want to help out a user, a friend.” To put it in Instagram terms, it’s the like for like philosophy; those who have had their recommendations fulfilled are motivated to pay it forward.

“The experience has really been architected around this ask and answer exchange between friends. And this is really driven by Elizabeth and my insights and user research,” Brockhoff says. ”We noticed in a lot of the online groups where recommendations are being shared, that if there is a real question out there—whether it be from a community or your direct friends—people are really responding.”

For the Masse CEOs, Shaffer laughingly admits, “It’s definitely dangerous being the co-founders, I have found myself shopping a lot more.” For everyone else, it means finding a genuine review for that mascara they’ve seen touted on Instagram. Plus, as Shaffer explains, users feel a “real pride” in discovery. “They’ve put in the research, and they’ve done the work, and they really want to share it.” So in a sense, everyone’s an influencer on Masse. Only here, no one is making a career of it.