Is the race on to find the standard-bearer for Web 3.0? With many expecting localization to play a big role in the next life-cycle of the internet, today was a big step towards bringing social networking through mobile apps to the masses. Buzzd, one such social network, announced venture funding by Greycroft Partners (also shareholders of paidcontent.org) and Monitor Ventures for an undisclosed sum (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-buzzd-raises-first-round-for-location-based-mobile-networking/). The article also mentions one of their competitors, Loopt, who's got a great elevator pitch on their web-site: "loopt turns your mobile phone into a social compass".
I checked out the Buzzd tutorial on their web-site, and it's basically twitter with a dose of facebook but branded for big city night-life. I'm pretty sure you can manage your account online, posting personal details and linking up with friends, etc. The idea is that you can send Buzzd an SMS right before you go out, and the service will return with a text that displays recommended venues/parties for the night. At some point a WAP site even opens up, so it's rich media. When you get there, you can send one text to Buzzd, letting your community know that you're there, and everyone in your network will be notified.
I "get" the model, but it just sounds like a heckuva lot of work. Usually you're not going to meet people you barely know, right? Some, if not most, people have group lists on their phones that they can SMS in one shot. You agree to a bar beforehand, and then send out the obligatory mass text asking, "Where R U?". One point of differentiation between these mobile social networks seems to be the partnerships they strikeup. Buzzd seems to have Cityseach and TimeOutNY locked up, while Loopt has Facebook. Interesting to see what the tipping point will be with this technology. I'm much more interested if someone in my network has found a cool, unknown bar with no annoying people around. I'd almost pay for that...
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