AUSTIN, Texas (KTLA)– Social is in at SXSW Interactive 2012. Apps that know where you are in hopes of helping you make new connections.
Networking at events like SXSW is key and app developers are finding way to make it easier for people of like minds to connect with others nearby.
Socially aware apps work in two ways, first they connect you with your friends nearby, and they connect you with people who you don’t know but you share similar interests.”I’m here primarily to meet people,” said Cameron Price from New York. “So anything that breaks the ice is a good thing.”
The bell of the ball was Highlight, the slick app that uses Facebook friends and Likes to show users a map of nearby people who have shared interests.
“It’s not forcing you to make those connections,” Highlight representative Amanda Davidson explained.”It’s just alerting you that there are people nearby and you can make those connections.” Glancee takes a similar approach, “We don’t disclose your exact location, so i don’t know exactly where you are, I only know that you are nearby,” said Andrea Vaccari of Glancee.
Much alike, the app Sonar alerts users when people of similar interests are checking around the area, all based on the user’s social media connections.
And once you’ve got your group together, it’s time for GroupShot.The simple app merges photos of everyone’s faces to make the perfect photo.
“Things that take Photoshop experts between five minutes to an hour you can do in two clicks,” said Yair Bar-on from GroupShot. “It’s simple, two clicks and it works.”
And when it’s time to get some actual chores done, there are apps for that too.
Zaarly and Task Rabbit connect users with people willing to do time consuming chores. Users can assign how much they are willing to pay for a certain chore and others make cash by picking up the jobs.
“I would just be interested to see how this grows, will people really message others they don’t know and say hey,” said Annie Ortmeier an attendee from Nashville Tennessee. “We have the Hunger Games in common! Is that enough to build a relationship on? I don’t know!”
Keep in mind, apps that monitor your location in the background kill your battery faster.
