Eastern alum co-creates new photo-sharing app

A simple idea shared between two cousins watching football has resulted in PHOMO, a new social media app built around authenticity, small friend groups, and rediscovering forgotten photos.

Eastern alumnus Elliott Hyde ’24 and his cousin, Brendan Gagner, a recent Sacred Heart University graduate, launched the photo-sharing app this July. 

Hyde, a finance major, said the idea first took shape as a simple question: what if people could respond to a single, universal caption using photos already sitting in their camera roll?

“There are thousands and thousands of pictures on everybody's camera roll that none of their friends or family [would otherwise] see again,” he said, adding that the concept grew out of frustration with how curated traditional social media has become.

“Instagram and social media nowadays can be fake,” Hyde said. Gagner agreed, noting that people rarely share the candid moments that make up real life.  

“You don't post a picture on Instagram of you waking up and having a bad hair day,” said Gagner. “Instagram is for showing the best parts of your life. ... On PHOMO, we want the user to bring their camera roll back to life and show all those moments, the funny ones, and the real ones."

A Daily Prompt, a Smaller Circle, and a More Honest Feed

PHOMO, a play on “photo” and “FOMO” (fear of missing out), gives users a new creative caption each day. The prompts resemble the playful, open-ended cards you would find in card games like Apples to Apples or What Do You Meme?, encouraging users to match them with forgotten photos from their camera roll. 

What makes PHOMO stand out is its emphasis on keeping your circle small. “On Instagram, people have hundreds and thousands of followers, most of them you don’t even know,” Gagner said. PHOMO takes the opposite approach. “This is more like a personal group chat with your friends.” 

Hyde said PHOMO’s smaller social circles encourage a more relaxed type of posting. “Instagram goes out to a huge crowd,” he said. “Here, you’re sharing your everyday self with a tight group of friends.” 

PHOMO also borrows familiar elements from other popular apps, reshaping them into something new.  

On the daily photo app "BeReal," users must post before they can see their friends’ posts, creating a shared daily moment. PHOMO adds a competitive twist through its trophy system, a nod to Snapchat streaks and score.  

“You only get one trophy per day,” Gagner said. “So, if someone has eight or ten trophies, you know that was a good post.” Hyde said the feature quickly became a favorite among testers. “When you received a trophy, it held so much value,” he said. “It’s like when you send a funny text in the group chat and everyone hearts it.” 

The cousins have written more than 400 prompts, ranging from wholesome to nostalgic to intentionally chaotic. Some are broad enough for anyone to participate; others instantly trigger a specific memory. 

“When you read the caption, you’re immediately going to think of a picture,” Hyde said. “It might bring you back to a specific memory in your camera roll.”  

Developing PHOMO 

After refining the concept, Hyde and Gagner spent more than two years developing PHOMO. First, through a clickable PowerPoint prototype, then a website version built by app developer Chop Dawg. They tested the prototype with friends for several months, gathering feedback that convinced them the idea was worth pursuing. 

“One of the questions was, ‘What’s something you don’t like about it?’” Gagner said, “Everyone said, ‘We don’t like that it’s not already an app.’” 

That response pushed them to hire a professional development team in January, with the app becoming available in the Apple App Store this July.   

For the time being, PHOMO is free to download. The founders' focus is building a platform people genuinely enjoy using. “We’re just trying to grow as much as possible as quickly as possible,” Hyde said.  

The cousins hope PHOMO becomes a daily ritual: a place where users reconnect with old memories, laugh with close friends, and feel less pressured to curate a perfect image.  

“People are ready for something new,” Hyde said. “It’s time for something new.” 

The duo plans to promote PHOMO across Connecticut colleges and universities this fall, expanding to new regions and campuses as the app attracts new users. 

Download PHOMO in the app store and follow on Instagram (@phomosocial) for more information.