7 ms·

Fake App Becomes Real

133 points by davislover 15y ago

kin 15y ago
Isn't this pretty much Oink?
- davislover 15y ago
  No http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/13/four-letter-words/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/13/four-letter-words/
- arpit 15y ago
  ...or Stamped http://stamped.com/ http://stamped.com/
- joejohnson 15y ago
  Isn't that pretty much the point?
- dannyr 15y ago
  Sadly, there's not much difference between Jotly & Oink.
akg 15y ago
I wonder if being uberly social about things will eventually lead to the anti-social revolution. Who's in for creating the next big wave, "deface book"? Actually, that's not a bad idea, Defacebook will let you create mustaches on your friend's profile pictures. ;-)
- josephmosby 15y ago
  The marketing of apps has switched from "we're making old styles of connecting easier" (i.e. Facebook being a re-hash of existing college facebooks) to "you would never have really wanted to do this in the first place, but now it's easy so you will." Word of mouth is STILL the best way to spread ideas, which is why platforms such as Twitter and Facebook remain viable. They're capable of being used in all sorts of ways, but their core strength is that they're simply about connecting people and then letting people decide how they want to share information. The more app developers attempt to structure what information people are sharing, the less useful the tool becomes - especially when it's information that was never really shared in the pre-social web age.
  - adam-a 15y ago
    I agree, this is the aspect which makes this joke app more appealing in some ways than the real ones. The lack of constraints, the ability to rate anything, could be quite empowering for users and allow them to shape the service to suit them. In the same way that Twitter now has @links and #tags as a real feature but originally it was just text. This is paving the cowpaths and seems like a really strong way to build something as hard to nail down as a social network.
joejohnson 15y ago
When did this launch? I downloaded it 5 minutes ago, made a quick account and posted a photo of a candle... and since then there have been multiple other users "nearby" that have rated things. I'm impressed how many people are actually using this.
danko 15y ago
Here's the posting on Scott Hansen's blog about the making of the original Jotly video. Quite inspired, although I shudder to think what would happen if Jotly actually proves to be a success. I'm not ready for anti-marketing copycats. http://blog.iso50.com/25994/jotly-share-everything-with-everyone/ http://blog.iso50.com/25994/jotly-share-everything-with-ever... Incidentally, Scott Hansen is also the guy behind Tycho Music. I just love unexpected connections like that.
- alexcornell 15y ago
  When I wrote that article, we were joking about making it real. Now we're joking about it becoming successful. Here's to hoping two jokes come true :)
  - ebiester 15y ago
    Well, it's more fun than it has any right to be. I fear it's the kind of thing that could collapse under its own weight in that if it were to get too big, everyone would try to use it as advertizing for their products, making it boring.
masonhensley 15y ago
Example of a rating via web. Thankfully they build a web view for ratings... Stain on Couch: "D-" http://www.jotly.co/jot/75025 http://www.jotly.co/jot/75025
- cubicle67 15y ago
  I've no idea who you are, but it looks like I now know where you live Would you find it creepy or amusing if someone knocked on your door asking to view the famous stain? [Edit: just got home and re-read this. It sounds like I'm planning a visit :/ I'm not]
- samstave 15y ago
  Jesus Christ. I Zillowed the house in which this stain occurs. Even in Nashville houses are .5 Mil. WTF. Where can one live any longer without requiring 200K salary?
  - mattdeboard 15y ago
    most places.
- Raphael 15y ago
  Refreshing. So many trendy apps these days behind an app store or log-in wall.
karpathy 15y ago
I found the live feed of Jots fun to watch: http://www.jotly.co/jots http://www.jotly.co/jots (potentially NSFW of course). Also, I rated my evening at the computer as a B- and the founder commented and suggested that I try to watch some TV. And that's just hilarious.
wgx 15y ago
Lesson: a working, usable idea + Techcrunch promo = adoption. And adoption is all that social services really need to get going, even if they're a joke. Longevity is a totally different matter of course.

133 points by davislover 15y ago

kin 15y ago

Isn't this pretty much Oink?

davislover 15y ago
No http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/13/four-letter-words/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/13/four-letter-words/
arpit 15y ago
...or Stamped http://stamped.com/ http://stamped.com/
joejohnson 15y ago
Isn't that pretty much the point?
dannyr 15y ago
Sadly, there's not much difference between Jotly & Oink.

akg 15y ago

I wonder if being uberly social about things will eventually lead to the anti-social revolution. Who's in for creating the next big wave, "deface book"? Actually, that's not a bad idea, Defacebook will let you create mustaches on your friend's profile pictures. ;-)

josephmosby 15y ago
The marketing of apps has switched from "we're making old styles of connecting easier" (i.e. Facebook being a re-hash of existing college facebooks) to "you would never have really wanted to do this in the first place, but now it's easy so you will." Word of mouth is STILL the best way to spread ideas, which is why platforms such as Twitter and Facebook remain viable. They're capable of being used in all sorts of ways, but their core strength is that they're simply about connecting people and then letting people decide how they want to share information. The more app developers attempt to structure what information people are sharing, the less useful the tool becomes - especially when it's information that was never really shared in the pre-social web age.
- adam-a 15y ago
  I agree, this is the aspect which makes this joke app more appealing in some ways than the real ones. The lack of constraints, the ability to rate anything, could be quite empowering for users and allow them to shape the service to suit them. In the same way that Twitter now has @links and #tags as a real feature but originally it was just text. This is paving the cowpaths and seems like a really strong way to build something as hard to nail down as a social network.

joejohnson 15y ago

When did this launch? I downloaded it 5 minutes ago, made a quick account and posted a photo of a candle... and since then there have been multiple other users "nearby" that have rated things. I'm impressed how many people are actually using this.

danko 15y ago

Here's the posting on Scott Hansen's blog about the making of the original Jotly video. Quite inspired, although I shudder to think what would happen if Jotly actually proves to be a success. I'm not ready for anti-marketing copycats. http://blog.iso50.com/25994/jotly-share-everything-with-everyone/ http://blog.iso50.com/25994/jotly-share-everything-with-ever... Incidentally, Scott Hansen is also the guy behind Tycho Music. I just love unexpected connections like that.

alexcornell 15y ago
When I wrote that article, we were joking about making it real. Now we're joking about it becoming successful. Here's to hoping two jokes come true :)
- ebiester 15y ago
  Well, it's more fun than it has any right to be. I fear it's the kind of thing that could collapse under its own weight in that if it were to get too big, everyone would try to use it as advertizing for their products, making it boring.

masonhensley 15y ago

Example of a rating via web. Thankfully they build a web view for ratings... Stain on Couch: "D-" http://www.jotly.co/jot/75025 http://www.jotly.co/jot/75025

cubicle67 15y ago
I've no idea who you are, but it looks like I now know where you live Would you find it creepy or amusing if someone knocked on your door asking to view the famous stain? [Edit: just got home and re-read this. It sounds like I'm planning a visit :/ I'm not]
samstave 15y ago
Jesus Christ. I Zillowed the house in which this stain occurs. Even in Nashville houses are .5 Mil. WTF. Where can one live any longer without requiring 200K salary?
- mattdeboard 15y ago
  most places.
Raphael 15y ago
Refreshing. So many trendy apps these days behind an app store or log-in wall.

karpathy 15y ago

I found the live feed of Jots fun to watch: http://www.jotly.co/jots http://www.jotly.co/jots (potentially NSFW of course). Also, I rated my evening at the computer as a B- and the founder commented and suggested that I try to watch some TV. And that's just hilarious.

wgx 15y ago

Lesson: a working, usable idea + Techcrunch promo = adoption. And adoption is all that social services really need to get going, even if they're a joke. Longevity is a totally different matter of course.