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Roomvine 2.0 — Chatrooms for real life venues, neighborhoods and events
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Hey PH,
Founder here! Roomvine started off as a small MVP experiment a few years ago (pre yik-yak, secret world) intended to help shy people interact in public places. We have recently rolled out a more complete, open-to-the-public version!
Our objective in Roomvine is to become a digital layer for real life: To help you interact with other people and businesses in the same place as you. Its an app to enhance your real world experience (not replace it). Some uses of Roomvine are:
- Striking up conversations with people at the same bar or club as you
- Crowdsourcing real time information from people in your neighborhood
- Voicing out thoughts and questions during classes and talks
- Interacting with other people at events and conferences
- Getting help or giving feedback to the manager of the restaurant you're at
While anonymous chat apps have grown very quickly over the last couple of years (which, of course, we are very envious of), there is a limit to what it can be used for. We feel that it rarely gives rise to useful conversations or sharing because it lacks sufficient context to interact.
Conversely, at Roomvine we have found that venues act as a close proxy for context. In a classroom, you are all hearing the same lecture. In a nightclub, you are all out to have fun/meet someone. This heightened context gives rise to more meaningful interactions than knowing "someone within 1 mile posted this". On Roomvine anonymity is optional and controllable: you can make your real identity known to the public, to friends of friends or to friends. However, if you're more comfortable, you can just use a chat handle.
We have also started to give special accounts to verified businesses (events, music festivals, nightclubs and bars) to enable them to better service and engage with their real time customers.
Hope to hear your thoughts and questions. Please join our growing community and share with people and businesses in your neck of the woods :) Quick link to the app: http://get.roomvine.com
Where do you see the big opportunity for roomvine vs the others that have recently come out in a similar space?
@bentossell Thanks for the message.
We feel that there are endless new use cases that will come into existence as the Roomvine community grows. Being able to segment and reach a truly hyperlocal (and not just nearby) audience will make many new social and business use cases possible.
I think our biggest differentiator at the beginning will be A) the ability for people to interact at live public events and functions (conferences, parties, concerts et ) B) the ability for a business to get involved to engage and service real-time customers.
@sameernoorani can a community really grow and thrive when it is anonymous? I'm not sure.
Also do people want to be contacted by McDonalds if they are a 5 min walk away? I'm not so sure. Some may, yes but I feel like on the grander scale its not a big draw for people.
@bentossell Anonymity can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the situation. Roomvine is not an anonymous app though. Users choose which level they disclose their true identity (public, friends of friends, friends only). At its most restrictive it is at the level of reddit where a user has a permanent online persona with linked credibility. We give the option for a certain degree of secrecy so ppl can interact more openly. However in certain situations and areas like an official setting, sensitive areas etc, we make it mandatory for a person to disclose their true identity (upcoming feature).
As for the McDonald's example, the manager of that McD's can only interact with ppl at their store who have explicitly checkedin there. The way the McD's manager would interact would be engaging their current customers, helping them out, getting anonymous feedback, promoting new products and deals etc. They wouldn't be using it to get new customers, just to enhance the experience and loyalty of the ones they are serving now. The user would use it add a social dimension to his visit there and to have a direct line to the manager if need be.
Great solution especially for meet ups and conferences. I think you should just focus on this. A real need!
Not sure if using it in classrooms is a good idea. But yes, clubs, restaurants and events have a lot of room for this.
@bansaljii Again, it depends on the size of the class/auditorium. If its a 30 person class then I agree. If its a 200 person class/talk then allowing for cross-discussions or questions is difficult, disturbing and intimidating.
Its also down to the phone use policy of the teacher :)
Roomvine