I sipped a Tecate in the darkened back room of El Patio in La Mesilla, N.M., thinking that this biker bar was far from 2009 as one could be. They don’t even take credit cards.
Then my friend reminded me Lady Gaga was playing on the jukebox.
Enough said.
Dandee Fleming then pulled out his iPhone and proceeded to Gowalla the spot.
I asked him what it was.
Although Dandee’s good with words, I don’t recall his explanation being especially all-encompassing. I was kind of confused.
Is it a social networking app? Is it a game?
The answer is yes.
When you Gowalla, you have friends, just like other social networking apps. You can even connect with Facebook and Twitter.
But it’s also GPS-based, and you create and found locations based upon your location. Then you check into location you and others have created.
Sometimes you find an item, such as a “skullcap,” a “gowalla board,” or even a “security bin” for your keys at the airport scanner.
Some items are cooler than others. I found a luggage tag this morning and dropped it as soon as I got it.
You collect pins when you reach certain milestones. You can create trips linking several locations together. It’s like a veritable scavenger hunt.
Right now the Gowalla app is native to the iPhone. You also can use http://m.gowalla.com on the Droid phones. Hopefully, it will be on Windows Mobile Devices soon so that more of my friends can play.
To me, it’s an entertaining way to connect friends and places and encourage exploration. If I want to be the Gowalla king of Lubbock, I need to start creating more spots!
Sure, there are other apps, like Foursquare. But I’m brand loyal, and @gowalla got me first.
Here’s hoping they have an amazing and profitable 2010!
I'm a cognitive scientist and communication scholar who manages a psychophysiology lab at Texas Tech. I teach courses about the cognitive processing of media messages and research methods.
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