The very first pitch I got at TechCrunch Disrupt was from the Israeli founders of Doweet, a simple but ambitious iPhone app. Doweet ties into Facebook to share and discuss real life events. Why? Well, the purpose isn’t exactly clear other than some rather bold marketing speak purporting to “revolutionize the way we do things together.” I’m not sure about that, but here’s what Doweet does.
First, you’ll connect the app to your Facebook account. Next, you’ll add friends using Doweet… except that in my case (and probably 99% of all cases) none of my friends were using Doweet. User adoption, as with all social apps, will be a hurdle. Then you’ll start creating “Doweets” which are just events, really. It may be that you’re hosting a party, or maybe just going to the park, etc. but the concept is that you’ll create an event and add some Facebook friends. You can use an in-app commenting system to discuss the Doweet. If someone adds you to a Doweet you’ll get a notification (you can, of course, turn off notifications). That’s almost it, but not quite.
Perhaps the more powerful, slightly hidden ability of Doweet is the ability to create groups and add them to a Doweet. In Options you can even manage your groups. Unfortunately, the utility is still limited to people using the app. It would be much better if this somehow had a web component to lower the barrier to entry. The company plans to add this and Android compatibility, which may drive adoption.
Still, it seems to me the utility is somewhat limited. Tying the app to Facebook makes some sense, but that means you are limited to people who are your “friends.” For businesses, that won’t work. Personally, I’m more inclined to email a group of people about an event and “discuss” it in a thread than within an app. There are some apps similar to this, most of which have more features or a better focus (like finding bars or restaurants or adding value by ratings and reviews).
Doweet is free, so you’re not risking anything by trying it out, but it seems to be a solution in search of a problem. Until its userbase gains critical mass, I don’t see a lot of use in this app, noble though its goals may be.
Doweet aims to make real life activities more social originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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