check out these check ins
Can you manage another? New location-based, curated city guide Urbandig launchesin Austin
Dec 19, 2011 | 6:00 pm
I need a social network to keep up with my social networks.
I'll adopt something early (hello, Google+) and then let it fall out of my routine (goodbye, Google+) as I find it less and less useful once the excitement of the release wears off. And then, as soon as I quit one habit, another new and shiny digital toy is developed, and the adopt-and-drop cycle begins again.
So what happened in the ever-active app landscape today? We met Urbandig.
Urbandig is another take on location-based social networking, with availability in over 30 cities, including Austin. As Gowalla folds itself into Facebook and is faced with conforming to the giant corporation's whims, a small space in the check-in marketplace reveals itself at the most opportune of times for the emergent Urbandig.
So what happened in the ever-active app landscape today? We met Urbandig.
Urbandig is another take on location-based social networking, with availability in over 30 cities, including Austin. As Gowalla folds itself into Facebook and is faced with conforming to the giant corporation's whims, a small space in the check-in marketplace reveals itself at the most opportune of times for the emergent Urbandig.
Urbandig's tone is that of your best friend — if your best friend is the type who is invited to every party, has the best sense of style and is cool without trying too hard. Featuring lists of hotspots created by well-known local personalities who deliver on the naturally-badass vibe, the company fancies itself a true "experience" app.
It's overtly targeted to the young and hip. Maybe you'll find a graphic designer's favorite taco stand, a photographer's go-to video store or a blogger's hidden gem for lingerie. (Which, by the way: if you're looking for a more historical take on a city, be it Austin or elsewhere, check out Rama. On this app, you basically allow your phone to guide you on educational walking tours throughout cities, much like you would a hand-held device through a museum exhibit.)
The Urbandig guides range from half-day to multi-day experiences and "contain insider tips, beautiful photos, and recommendations of what to do, eat, or drink at each stop along the way." You can, of course, choose to stop at just one listing in any grouping.
Like granddaddies Gowalla and Foursquare, you can follow your friends, see where they've checked in and make judgments on the coolness of a place according to its roster of recent visitors (because you know you have).
In my opinion, internet users are being offered too many options to be able to easily cut through the digital noise and determine what’s best for their purposes. Like me, you can keep trying them all, but you never get the chance to fully invest when you’re checking in to three different applications at once.
I’d love for one clear-cut winner to prevail, and I wish Urbandig all the best. I’m simply curious to see how willing we are as users to learn (and believe in) yet another variation of digital socialization. Every new company's success in the marketplace quite literally lays in the palm of our hands.
So will you download, or are you all apped-out?
(Oh, and get back to me when you've got a management solution for our sickly cyber social world. It would seem I won't be leaving anytime soon.)