Checking in is clearly the new black. If you aren’t checking in with foursquare, then it’s probably Gowalla or any one of the 200+ other location-based apps available.
But location-based checki ns only really work if you are travelling a lot or going somewhere cool. Sadly being the mayor of your local Wal-Mart is not as cool as being the Mayor of the Bellagio.
From personal experience, I find that tweeting my location offers the occasional response but tweeting anything music or movie related always gets a conversation going. Tweeting as little as ‘Well I Wonder’ (a regular tweet of mine) gets plenty of responses from Smiths fans, and the occasional chap that thinks it sounds like the Kaiser Chiefs (I mean, really.)
Why am I telling you this? Because I think if you like TV and movies, and you get the check in concept then the Miso app is for you…
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I have to admit that when I received the tip I was cynical about the intro, “it’s like foursquare…” filled me with dread, was this set to be another foursquare clone. But on closer inspection the concept seems very attractive. I’m not convinced that ‘checking in’ for watching stuff is quite correct but I don’t have a better recommendation so we’ll run with it.
I travel sporadically but consume a lot of media. With the Miso app I can check in what I watch. Like foursquare and gowalla I can add friends through Miso as well as tweeting my watching habits or posting a Facebook update. In a cool addition to the app, I can also add in my locational data (e.g. cinema) by hooking into foursquare or gowalla – both integrated into the app.
So, if I am watching Doctor Who, I can fire up the app and check in with Doctor Who. Hooking in a bunch of data sources, Miso can help me spot the series and the specific episode or just the film. Like the increasing trend of tweeting during TV broadcasts, the app will allow me to connect to a wider audience interested in what I am watching, when I am watching (with Twitter) and where I’m watching (with location services.)
Like foursquare you can earn badges for what you watch, and how often. So, if you love movies you can become a movie fan.
But earning badges is not where this app will end. In time the hope is that studios and media companies will start paying attention to this [and similar] audiences and offer up rewards of real value based on media consumption. So, if you become the biggest fan of House, wouldn’t it be great to get some ‘unseen’ clips or something to reward your loyalty. The cost to the studios would be little but the benefit to the user would massive.
Miso is a cool little app. It works internationally so I can check in with UK programmes, not just US shows. The sharing of what I am watching appeals on many levels without the concern of privacy which has troubled foursquare in the past. I have to say, this wasn’t an obvious cool app when I started looking at it, but I like it and think there is a future in it.
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