Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams launches her own social media app ‘Daisie’

Maisie Williams is known to tens of millions of Game of Thrones fans as Arya Stark, a deadly assassin seeking justice.

She was cast in the role at just 12-years-old and has grown up at the centre of a worldwide television phenomenon.

But as that show fast approaches its conclusion, Maisie is getting ready to make the move from acting to app development, launching her own brand of social media this summer.

“Daisie” is a new “career-driven social media” that aims to help more people break into the creative industries, and to create a safe space for people to connect and collaborate online.

“In the playground and on social media we have a real popularity contest,” she tells me.

Users of her new app will immediately be struck by the absence of a “follower” count.

This is a common feature on Instagram and Twitter, while Facebook publicly displays the number of “friends” a user has.

“With Daisie, the way in which your profile will grow is very different,” Maisie says.

“It’s about a “chain” that you make. To make a chain you work with other people on the app, you create projects together, and then you have a mutual link.

“The more chains you make, the bigger your profile becomes, so it takes it away from lots of people following one person.”

Maisie certainly knows what it is like to be that “one person”, with nearly ten million followers on existing social media platforms.

But she has been very open about the downside of growing up online, actively campaigning against cyberbullying and anonymous messaging platforms in the past.

She is also aware of how the app could help reform the entertainment industry.

Daisie plans to fundamentally redesign the way people get their career break.

Instead of waiting for powerful executives to dish out opportunities, the app will connect creative people and enable them to launch their own projects.

“In the shift we have seen, it’s the perfect time for this app,” she tells me.

“So many young people really struggle to get an ‘in’ to whichever industry they’re looking at. Daisie will basically provide that.”

Williams is by no means the only celebrity who has made the move into app development in recent years.

American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres helped create and then to promote the hugely popular guessing game “Heads Up”, while Tom Hanks followed his personal passion with an app that turns your device into a typewriter.

But the actress is certainly one of the youngest to attempt to break into the tech sector.

When asked about the challenges trying to do so as a young woman she said: “I hope to inspire other young women, that you will surprise yourself. I’ve surprised myself and I hope I continue to with the rest of my life.

“I think maybe there’s just a knock in confidence for girls from a young age, and I guess I’m here to prove, there doesn’t have to be.”

And Williams has a strong and clear message for those girls. “You can do far more than you ever expected if you just push yourself and keep going, and if someone tells you no, you just continue on.”

Williams’ fans need not worry that this latest venture will take her off our screens, as she says there are no plans to bow out of acting.

Instead her new app will have to fit around her hectic filming schedule, launching in London this summer.

(c) Sky News 2018: Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams launches her own social media app ‘Daisie’