Groovr Mobile Social Network Puts Friends In The Same Groove : SOMEWHAT FRANK

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January 10, 2007

Groovr Mobile Social Network Puts Friends In The Same Groove

Frank Gruber

Groovr recently launched a social network built around the connectivity of a mobile phone, mainly text and photo messaging. Groovr aims to act as a communication mechanism for people interested in constantly updating their friends or contacts with their whereabouts. Groovr also offers other social networking hooks which include the ability to meet new people and find new places to hangout. Users can “checkin” with other Groovr users via your mobile phone which is similar to Kiboze and Dodgeball. Groovr is a Djando-powered site which offers a very dark color schemed, clean web interface and sending items to the web or other friends is as simple as sending a text message to go [at] groover dot com. You can find out more by checking out the Groovr Tour.

Groovr’s live photo upload functionality is similar to the Flickr feature which enables users to upload images via your phone. I refer to it as “live Flickring” as you can take photos “live” at the ballgame, a restaurant or anywhere and instantly upload them to Flickr thus giving your contact a photo update and a picture is worth a thousand words. Though a similar general feature, Groovr puts emphasis on the social networking aspects as it allows users to constantly “checkin” to see where other friends or contacts are located so as to meetup with them.

As a text and photo message (i.e. "live Flickring") addict I think Groovr offers some compelling features. Unfortunately, I probably will have some difficulty convincing my friends to use the service and I thus adoption is probably Groovr’s biggest obstacle. I think Groovr understands this hurdle and is offering rewards for referring new users to the service. The first 250 users to refer some to the service can receive a Groovr t-shirt while the person who refers the most users each month can get a Sidekick mobile phone. Nothing motivates better than free stuff. :)