The concept of social network has become so fluid. Gone are the days when you needed millions of registered users and a sizeable number of active participants to call yourself a social network. These days, even fledgling mobile applications refer themsleves rather audaciously as social networks.
I’m not getting into the argument if that’s the right thing to do. I’m merely pointing out a fact that social networks now have a long tail of their own with apps targeting crazy niches with a handful of target audience.
Eloquently named YourExtraLife is a social network for doers. Ignoring the oversight of not catchingly naming their social network, let us try it hands on!
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First Steps
In their own words, YourExtraLife exists to help you explore the world of possibilities. The app introduces you to exciting real world challenges and rewards you on successful completion of the same. That’s a broad stroke to say the least when you get to know about the app for the first time.
I did love the swanky intro screen they have got. It’s lively, to the point and is gorgeous. Easily the coolest one I have come across in the recent past.
The Game
Alright, YourExtraLife is a game except that it’s played in the real world and is actually fun. To start with, you will be presented with a bunch of topics to choose from. Select the one that catches your fancy and you’ll be shown a tree with a ton of locks on it.
Challenge categories and the tree of challenges
Based on the success of your first task, the rest of tasks will be unlocked in an orderly fashion. The first task is usually quite simple and the tasks become hard as you move forward.
But what if you decide to cheat and move along the ladder real fast? Well, you are expected to produce a proof — a photograph — showing that you actually completed the task. Alright, are you still wondering what if you uploaded a random pic and get past the gates? All pics you submit are verified by the community before you are certified successful at every turn. The developers have really thought this one through!
Prepping for a question and submitting the image proof
All successes are accompanied by points based on how hard the tasks assigned to you were. I chose the culture section for my first task and I was asked to name five artists who have made an impact in my life. I ended the list with the inimitable Megan Fox (unfortunately, with a typo) on my Notes app and uploaded the screen grab.
A user submitted proof for a challenge
Users have already used the notes app for the same task. But, there were also others who have used images, writings and sketches to create their list. You get to see the work of others and like it if you are impressed. I found the user contributed images to be inspiring and gorgeous. Sure, some have made generous use of the built in filters, but overall, the results were awesome.
The much awaited approval and the unlocking of the challenges
What’s annoying with YourExtraLife is the wait time. After submitting the image, it takes a long time for the community to actually verify that and approve. It could be minutes or hours, depends on how lucky you are. I don’t know how many people have the patience to wait around for that long these days.
The push notifications are a saving grace. But, for impatient ones like me, that isn’t the ideal solution. I ditched FarmVille just because I had to actually wait to harvest my virtual farm. To avoid boredom while you wait, you can try the tasks from other categories simultaneously though.
Approving submissions from the tribunal screen
What’s even more fun is that you can go through the images submitted by other users and approve their claims. The live feed is another way to kill sometime as well. Frankly, expect for challenge tree screen, the UI design across the board is gorgeous. In fact the challenge tree looks a tad amateurish when compared to the splendid design of the other screens.
Final Thoughts
Usually, I ignore most “social networks” that show up in the new and noteworthy section. That’s because there is a very good chance that the app will fall off the radar by the time I write a up review and the article makes our publishing queue. That said, from time to time I do stumble across genuine efforts to connect people for betterment of everyone involved. Everest was one and now, YourExtraLife is another.
I’m not sure if apps like the above mentioned two will survive or not, but, it’s definitely makes sense to give the thoughtful ventures a few minutes of our time that they rightfully deserve. In that sense, YourExtraLife won over me for pushing people to do things.
It’s extremely rewarding to move out of your comfort zone and start doing new things. I can personally vouch for that, and YourExtraLife is clearly the right companion to steer you through the fun times.
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