This article was published on October 27, 2010

Coloci brings friends closer with grand features controlled by the user


Coloci brings friends closer with grand features controlled by the user

One of the super neat things the internet allows individuals to do is connect with friends, family, and/or colleagues be they close in proximity or across the world.  It goes without saying that Facebook, and to a lesser extent based solely on number of total number of users, Twitter, have helped facilitate maintaining connections in addition to generating new ones.

Facebook and Twitter are easy to use on be it on the web or one’s mobile device, as are other options such as Instant Tweetup, Foursquare, Gowalla, and a host of other mobile applications.  The problem with all of these?  Each is most effective for meeting up with others instantly, when you’re already at a location and share it with your social network(s).

A new app, Coloci, pronounced (kolo.kye) wants to simplify this process and “bring friends closer,” by allowing you to create and post future trips, activities, and more, for friends to view.  This process makes it simple to connect without having to set up a specific meeting time and place days in advance or by hoping your friends see your latest status update, give you a call or send you a text, hoping that you’ll invite them to join you on your outing.

The extremely great team at Coloci describes their mission as:

“Coloci (kolo kye) helps you share your future location, trips and activities with your social network (selectively) and alerts you when your friends will be nearby so you can meetup with them. Meeting face to face is something that is under-appreciated in this age of e-connectedness. By helping you meetup, Coloci helps strengthen your social network.”

So why create Coloci?

“Coloci grew out of the need to meetup with friends in an increasingly time-strapped life. It dawned one day that as we go about our daily errands, or take trips, we get many opportunities to meet with our social network, be it at the local coffee shop or while waiting in a transit lounge at the airport. Meetup with friends in the ‘white space’ time that we have! And the idea was born… Coloci can help us re-connect above and beyond our e-connect.”

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Coloci is dead simple to sign up for and has some really slick features that should only improve with time.

Once you create your Coloci account, the first thing I recommend you do is invite friends and set up you alert rules.  Why?  Adding friends will make the service more enjoyable and setting alert rules will prevent notification fatigue if configured properly.

Once one’s added friends and set up alerts, the fun really begins.  Coloci allows users to view recent updates from friends:

Coloci also allows one to add trips, big and small, and view your trips, both in an easy to use manner:

All that said, the really neat thing about Coloci is the radar feature.  Take a look:

For the socially active, the app aids one with strengthening and expanding your network. For the super busy, it provides one with a chance to catchup with your friends when you have the time, while going about doing the million things that you have to.  For the frequent traveler, it enables you to meet all those friends who you had no idea are near your destinations.

Coloci is a grand way to keep those closest to you informed of what you’ll be up to in the future, controlled entirely by your privacy settings.  Try Coloci and let us know what you think.

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