MingleNow is a place-centered social networking site that will offer real world incentives for online activity. Incubated by advertising company BlueLithium, MingleNow will launch a limited beta early next week and open to the public at the end of this month. I’ve been waiting for this to come to fruition for some time and I’ll be interested to see if it’s well received. If the real world events and incentives end up being something people are interested in participating in, then this could do well. I imagine that if top MySpace users, for example, told the world where they’d be on a Saturday night, a fair number of people would likely go there too.
Unlike other social networks that are focused on people, MingleNow will be based primarily on locations like bars and other venues. Nearly 900,000 physical locations will have dedicated MingleNow pages at launch and users will be encouraged to upload photos and stories from those locations. Users will also have fully customizable profile pages. MingleNow emphasizes the viability of its service for events promoters. Users who bring in friends and populate the site with photos, stories and reviews will receive points towards real world discounts, early event notification and VIP access to select events. The service will kick off with public events at venues around the US this fall.
Online/offline tie-ins are becoming increasingly common; from coupons from Google and Cellfire to Partystrands, social music recommendations in public venues.
MingleNow will offer a personal calendar so people with various levels of permission see what a given user will be doing in the future, where and with whom. At launch the calendar will import and export to and from GCal and ICal; the company says they hope next to add syncing with Outlook. The company is partnering with a variety of third party services to provide functionality like mobile access and group SMS and voice messaging to co-ordinate events.
The site’s search by tag and criteria for people and places works well. There is something about this that makes public events a little more sterile and packaged than I’d prefer if they are vetted by my personal profile and preferences prior to co-ordinating with friends, but in an increasingly on-demand world many people may want just that. The scores of venue pages on MySpace could certainly be far more functional and in MingleNow location pages will be.
There are also RSS feeds, maps and recommendations throughout the site..
I badgered the company about OpenID or some other means of importing and exporting data across social networking services, lest this be just one more silo, and they indicated that they were in discussions and experimentation regarding those concerns. We’ll see.
There is certainly no shortage of social networking sites available, but the combination of a large semipopulated database, real world incentives and mobile connectivity all at launch is interesting. Especially if MingleNow offers quality events and incentives, doesn’t have a large barrier to entry and ends up allowing users to bring in some of what they’ve built elsewhere, they may bring a fresh take to a potentially exhausted market.
not another – barf!!!!!!!!!!!
hey marshall….
what you really need for a site like this is to allow people to more or less know where the ‘a’ list parties are happeneing!!!
Tell me about this site when it is launched. This article isn’t Techcrunch worthy when all they have is a splash page inviting beta users. So far, I’m not all that intrigued by the concept.
if they had a site up that would mean real work by Marshall to review it! we can’t have that.
Not sure if the “real locations” differentiation will give MingleNow a competitive advantage over competitors. T
he connectivity issue is a good one, but it has already being explored by other social networking services.
We write up lots of companies pre-launch because we want to give our readers an early heads up on what’s becoming available.
Looks like a great place for the shiny shirt crowd. For people who are not into the meat market, http://bardiver.com/ looks like it will have similar features.
“Favorite Places: Rehab”
HA
It’s perhaps ironic that after reading this post’s second sentence (”Incubated by advertising company BlueLithium, MingleNow will launch a limited beta early next week and go public at the end of this month.”), I thought, if only for a split second, that it meant “MingleNow will launch a limited beta early next week and IPO at the end of this month.”
Yikes.
I wonder how much longer the whole I’m social online thing is going to keep booming… sure seems like it is going to slow down and the fad of having a blog or myspace is gonna end or rather become less special.
I can’t wait for this site to get up and running. I’ve been hearing about it for a while and I am anxious to get my friends on this site!
Funny how there are so many undiscovered “brilliant ideas” in the social networking space this late in the game… Btw, how much did the ad company spend on what looks like a lavish coming out party in the UK?
Wait….aren’t all the people who have millions of friends online are all dorks in real life? Whoever has a real life would not be wasting hours per day COLLECTING friends online.
“Hey, I’m going to this bar because MrPopular101 is there. He has over 400 friends on myspace, so he must be cool.” …doesn’t make any sense to me.
P.S. Just because many of you spend nights strapped into a head set discussing World of Warcraft strategy with your “friends” doesn’t mean the rest of us do the same. There can never be too many social networking sites!
Sorry but MySpace is already serving this purpose. All the popular clubs have MySpace profiles where club patrons are added to the friends list. They’re using the events system to post events, etc.
And not to mention all the existing club scene sites that may not be social networks, but are being used in a similar fashion (posting photos from events, etc.).
And for people that want to know where their existing friends are going on Saturday night there’s a nifty little thing called the phone. “Hey where you at? Me and Jenny are heading over to the club on 15th. You going to be there? A’ight cool. See you there. Peace!”
This may have taken off it launched in 2003 or 2004 but I think right now it has little chance of success with an organic growth strategy. Its niche is already being filled elsewhere and it’s JASN (Just Another Social Network).
Wow, all of the comments on here feel angry. Is the TechCrunch reader base angry?
Anyhow, social networking isn’t a fad. It’s the destiny of the Internet. Connecting with other people has been the driving force of the Internet since it began. I do think social networking sites like MySpace will give way to the real Internet where people will have websites vs. profiles. But, social networking will only continue to explode.
“There can never be too many social networking sites!”
Mimi: let me guess. You work for MingleNow, right? This is one of the dumbest comments I’ve seen. The number of successful anything is limited. Markets aren’t infinite. Once a social network in a particular niche has critical mass, it is difficult for another social network to lure their users away without some compelling differentiator. I already use MySpace to get the 411 on what’s up at the local clubs and to make plans to go clubbing with friends (who are on MySpace). I also use http://www.eventvibe.com/.
Elevator pitch: what compelling stuff does MingleNow offer me that I can’t find at the sites I’m already using?
If it’s not compelling enough, there’s no reason for me to join yet another social network when my social network is already on MySpace. It’s that simple. I’m not going to set up another profile and invite all 130 people I know on MySpace so that they can join some other site and hope they all sign up.
Sorry! I’ll be sure to ask you in a year if you still think there can never be too many social networking sites. My guess is you’ll be working at a different job.
Justin: people aren’t angry. A lot of us are just sick that every new social network that feels like every other social network is hailed as the next big thing on TechCrunch. Social networking will continue to explode but it’s likely to be with the dominant players or the rare new upstart that comes in with something really innovative and compelling. This provides nothing I can’t get on MySpace. Do they really think I’m going to upload my Outlook calendar for all my friends? That’s a really naive idea of social networking.
Just like any new site or product whether Web 2.0 or real-world 10.0, the user experience, and adoption will be the true test of the network’s mettle.
The great thing about the Web, as Mr. Kistner points out, is that there is something for everyone.
Sounds like MingleNow is for people with an actual social life, not a second life to me.
HAHAHAHA.
Dear Myspacer,
I guarantee you that if your friends left and went to minglenow, you’d join them. Just like you did for Friendster, Facebook and myspace. Social networks are always evolving. And lets be honest, your profile is not that interesting (or widely read) that you can’t cut what you already have in myspace and paste it in a mingle now profile.
I think Justin Kistner wrote it best (above): “…social networking isn’t a fad. It’s the destiny of the Internet. Connecting with other people has been the driving force of the Internet since it began.”
P.S. If I did work for Mingle now i would have wrote: “Mingle Now is the ONLY social networking site!” Duh.
XO
Mimi
Dude this is such a great idea… I dont plan on having a 234123 ‘friends’ online, but just my tight knit group, and so we can post where we plan on going. Its too a pain to try and organize everyone to go out together, this is an easy way to do it, if dont right.
MingleNow is only making “babysteps” towards what the internet will ultimately become. All of these social networking websites are interesting in that they completely betray the fundamentals of business by having no strategy for making money. By being the first to offer a service that actually has physical incentives is only granting them a six month lifespan at best. Ultimately they’re guaranteed to fail. GUARANTEED.
the MingleNow concept for people who fits your lifestyle background rocks. Sign up for the others and you find 10 years younger than you want to meet you and they have nothing in common. Talk about demo targeting. All you need is a good concept and people will catch on. Once you have a solid user base and can effectively reach them, you have the opportunity to reach advertisers that want to speak effectively to the right people.
Some people are innovators, they make things happen and the rest will follow. this site reaches people who make things happen and if you’re one of those people who have nothing to do and no where to go, where do you go to find something to do. this site finds a need and fills it and thats why MingleNow is going to succeed.
It’s about time someone created a social networking site that connects the online and the offline world. The area where all other social networking sites fail is that despite all the media features and options available, that’s where it ends. What happens after your page is “pimped out” to its maximum capacity – NOTHING! And that is when users lose interest and move on. A site like Minglenow has staying power with its ability to connect people with similar interests, etc (as seen through their profiles) at a plethora of locales. To further abet its staying power is the fact that there are endless numbers of venues and geographical locations. I’m eager to see how this site shapes up. Friendster has faded, Facebook interest is waning, and to all you Myspace lovers – you can’t get any tangible real-life benefits (unless you want to find yourself a hooker) like you can with MingleNow.
PS – to posters like number 13 and myspacer – I refer you to LA’s posting above – “Sounds like MingleNow is for people with an actual social life, not a second life to me.” In that case, I won’t expect you guys to sign up.
You miss the point Mimi. I believe what MySpacer is saying is that a new social network has to give a person a good reason to take the time to join a new site, set up a profile and try to rebuild their network. There are dozens upon dozens of social networks now. If your logic of “you just need to cut and paste your MySpace profile into your ______ profile” was valid, there would be dozens of social networks with tens of millions of users.
You’d actually be surprised at how much time some people spend on their MySpace profiles. It’s crazy and illogical, yes, but you’d be unwise to completely discredit the fact that many people are highly attached to MySpace. I think you underestimate the amount of time and resources some MySpace users have invested in creating their profile and building their social network on MySpace.
If all my friends left MySpace and went to MingleNow, would I join? Probably. But you’re not telling anybody WHY they are going to jump ship and go to MingleNow. And you’re not telling anybody WHY they would completely abandon all their activity on MySpace and spend all their time on MingleNow. I have a lowly 75 friends on MySpace. Some are people I go out with in real life (clubs, bars, etc.). Some are people I know online only. Some are from other countries. I’m willing to give you 1 million to 1 odds that MingleNow is not going to convince even 50% of the people on my MySpace friends list to join MingleNow, invite me and to completely abandon MySpace. Even if 10 join, that’s just 14% of my total network. Still no reason for me to jump ship, and still no reason for them to stop using MySpace. They still have friends on MySpace, so at the very best MingleNow would hope to cut into the time they spend on MySpace, not to eliminate it completely.
There’s inertia in social networks. Once you have a large network of your friends on one, it takes a powerful force to get an individual to jump shit and create a migration of all. New social networking startups that are planning for success need to recognize this and come up with a strategy to deal with it.
The only social network I know of that fell victim to a mass migration is Friendster, and it wasn’t primarily an outside force that drove them to migrate away, it was their own inability to scale as the service grew. The service became unusable so people went elsewhere.
Social networking isn’t going away. MySpace isn’t going away. What will be going away are all the copycat social networks that don’t provide a compelling enough reason for users to leave the popular social networks like MySpace and use them at least part of the time. Will MingleNow be one of these? Time will tell, but if their strategy is wholly reliant upon massive migrations from MySpace, I think they’ll find themselves in the deadpool.
The concept is brilliant and people will really participate in it since the incentives are for real. Am really looking forward to test this out.
Well, well…it seems like the MingleNow shills have been deployed in full force. It’s so obvious yet amusing at the same time.
Folks, This is going to revolutionize the way people our age network. Instead of just focusing on person to person, it’s going to focus on a person’s life. Especially with the event calender. I am stoked about this site. If you miss out on this you’re missing out on the next google.
Brendan, that’s totally what I was thinking too – Minglenow=next Google – I just didn’t have the guts to say it.
wtf??
anyway, glad this is a chance to talk about social network overload etc.
Nice idea. It’s different enough that I bet people will check it out. If it shows me where to go next time I’m in Phoenix other than the crappy joints I keep ending up in, sign me up.
OK Marshall, maybe i was a little overzealous in my endorsement of Minglenow. The reason that I’m enthusiastic about this site is that it looks like a maturity factor is built in. Not to mention if it delivers on its promise seamless offline-online integration it could really be a hit. Imagine instead of having to call and coordinate an event, just being able to check online. Am I the only one that appeals to?
Agree Steve. It’s an interesting idea but for a site that hasn’t launched, there are way too many people lauding it as the best thing since sliced bread. It’s a little too obvious. They might want to spread the shill comments out over time, add a little more substance and start using some different lines. Perhaps somebody can write a blog post could about proper shill techniques that fly under the radar.
What’s funny is the repeated claim that people on MySpace, Facebook, etc. don’t have social lives and that these services have no offline relevance. There are certainly geeks on MySpace that don’t go out, but if you actually use MySpace, you’ll see it is being used to coordinate and organize all sorts of offline activities. As mentioned, all the major clubs of note have MySpace profiles, there are club promoters marketing their venues, and the events section is filled to the brim with all sorts of offline events that MySpace users are RSVPing for. MySpace even has personal calendars so you can display where you’ll be and look at where your friends are planning to go. Lest we forget, MySpace was founded with the purpose of connecting the (offline) music/club scene in Los Angeles and grew from there. Facebook users are posting college-related events and they are posting pictures of all the offline venues they and their friends attended last weekend, etc. MySpace and Facebook are just two examples of the many sites that groups of friends are already utilizing to manage their offline activities. MingleNow could appeal to this market, but there should be no mistake that it’s up against tough, entrenched competition. I reiterate my point that if they think that users from popular social networks like MySpace are going to abandon those networks and migrate in droves to MingleNow without a compelling rationale for doing so, they’re planning for failure.
“Folks, This is going to revolutionize the way people our age network. Instead of just focusing on person to person, it’s going to focus on a person’s life. Especially with the event calender. I am stoked about this site. If you miss out on this you’re missing out on the next google.”
Too funny. Note to MingleNow staff:
(a) If you believe that we’re really too dumb to see that you are behind all these posts, you underestimate our intelligence. Your tactics are so crude that even the most gullible of people would probably see right through this.
(b) If you believe that having people post this stuff really convinces a large number of people that what you’re writing is true, you’re mistaken. Maybe it convinces you, in which case keep posting. Would hate for you to have to face reality when it’s not that much fun. Much more entertaining for us to watch a naive startup that thinks it’s going to waltz in and take over the world come face to face with the reality of social networking intertia.
(c) If you don’t recognize the fact that your service is at best evolutionary (not revolutionary) and that MySpace et. al. are your competition, you’re in for disappointment.
(d) If you think your resources are best spent on sending shills to post on TechCrunch (what do we know – we’re all geeks with no social lives) rather than coming up with a real model to compete with MySpace, drive revenues, etc., then you have a poor management team.
Hmm…so let’s see….you are in North Beach on a Friday night you are with a small group of friends but want to find out what the rest of your mates are up to and where they are. Your brother is also with you in town visitng for the weekend. He lives in super hip New York and you would like to show him SF is not lame. You want to call around and chat with your friends to see where they are but you are wrapped up in a conversation with a super cute guy…text messages start to hit your phone with your various friends telling you where they are. You relize you don’t know a few of the places, some are new and you have heard about some of them. You would like to check out the various places to see where they are, what they are about and if the crew you have with you would want to be there, and don’t forget the cute guy…you of course would like to snag him as well. So if you are going to use your phone and have a data plan what option would you choose?
MySpace?
Yelp?
City Search?
your phone- like 411?
or something like MingleNow?
Sorry, Social networking is not over in my book until you can slove that problem
Brendan and Marshall,
I really don’t think this is the next Google. Google was able to revolutionize the way we find information. Before the ranking of results, research through the internet was extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible. Not only do services similar to MingleNow exist (who knows if MingleNow will even be launched, which makes it strange that it’s reviewed here), but people can already find information about different places by simply searching Google. Another major point is that the target goal of any site dealing with social networking is around the 14-25 age group. The people in these age groups like music, movies, and other forms of entertainment (a reason Myspace is successful is that it includes a little of each of these forms of entertainment). They also like talking about themselves (hence blogs). I just can’t see people (specifically that age group) talking to each other and saying: “Did you see my MingleNow? I just added my favorite restaurant to it!”
TechCrunchReader, I was kidding.
To those questioning positive comments here, I can say at least that the PR person MingleNow is working with is one of my favorites and I seriously doubt that’s going on. I think people just like the idea.
great – i really want to use minglenow
so people can find out where i go, why i go there ………… and so they can find me on a saturday night and beat the shit out of me…..
i dont think so thanks anyways
Is total efficiency in planning your offline social life even desirable, especially when it relates to clubbing and parties?
I’m in my early 20s. I go clubbing pretty much every weekend. My friends and I do some planning, but we don’t have an itinerary. We play it by ear. Get spontaneous. Some of us make it to a destination, some don’t. I always love picking on my friends that don’t show up and miss out on a great time. Sometimes everybody arrives, only to split up later. Sometimes we end up in crazy places with crazy people we never knew or planned on meeting. And then there’s always the 3 a.m. breakfast at the local Denny’s.
The best time I ever had was on a trip to Vegas with 15 other guys for a bachelor’s party. Nothing was arranged except the hotel suites. Everything was done spur of the moment. Want to go to the pool? Let’s go! Want to go clubbing? Make a call to a connection and we’re in VIP. Want to go to the strip club? Flag down a limo and make a deal. It was the epitomy of chaos and poor planning but it was the best trip imaginable because we didn’t sweat the details. We let life happen. Sure we got pissed off at times. It was like herding cats. But after the trip was over, everybody agreed that it was an incredible experience that we’d all remember.
Life is not always a planned series of events. Things come up. You’re at the club with your friends, you meet a girl and end up ditching the fellas and going back to her place. You drink a little too much alcohol and end up passed out in a bathroom stall. Your buddies want to hit a bar after the club closes but you want to go home. Regardless of your lifestyle, part of the fun of any offline social life is the unexpected things that occur that you can’t predict.
Manks, your example is great. There is no technological solution to that situation. That situation is called life and it’s great. When we’re on death’s door and looking back at the good times in life, it’s those chaotic moments where you were living in the moment that will stand out as being the best.
I think MingleNow and any other service that aims for total efficiency of offline socializing is trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. I have no problem telling my friends where I’m going to be on Saturday night. Some will show. Some won’t. Some will come 2 hours late. No technology is going to fix that, and no technology should even try to. Some things aren’t broken and don’t need any fixing.
Hey Guys, it seems that you are joining the activity/events niche and I wish you all the best. I really think that we all will enjoy the shift towards social activities sites (rather than social network). For those who are single… ( and not the angry ones:) join MatchActivity.com.
Cheers,
Yoni Avital, CEO MatchActivity
lawd!!!
some angry, disillusioned cats in here…
when i was in grad school.. we’d hang out at clubs we knew about, as well as those we heard about from others we trusted…
unfortunately, as you get older, and move to other cities, you kind of loose since of where the serious clubs are. give me the clubs where you have to do a suit/tie, and the women look seriously fine!!!!
my point was that if this site can deliver on my ability to find these kinds of clubs, then yeah.. it would have a chance..
peace
Hi All,
>
>
>
> No shills, to my knowledge. Let me state here, publicly, if you are an
> employee of MN, or related to the company in anyway, please just come right
> out and say it.
>
>
>
> Otherwise, identify yourself, at least enough to provide some context so
> readers can understand where your opinions are coming from.
>
>
>
> I am the PR person Marshall so kindly refers to.
>
>
>
> Let me say this: I personally would not choose to work with a company unless
> I thought they really had a value proposition which stood on its own two
> feet. I have been around the block long enough to have watched plenty of Web
> 1.0 companies flop, not because they did not have a good idea, or solid
> business plan. Timing, user receptivity and, yes, competition and whether or
> not the market is saturated all play a big part in the end.
>
>
>
> We will see. I encourage you all to try it, when the public Beta is
> released. And, then make an assessment. As Marshall mentions — we just want
> to keep everyone informed, so you know its coming! We’ll keep everyone
> updated on development progress.
>
>
>
> Thanks for all the feedback.
Ha haaaaaaaaaa.
I enjoy reading this crap.
THE SITE HASN’T EVEN LAUNCHED. THE CHANCES OF THE SITE ACTUALLY BEING EASY AND FUN TO NAVIGATE IN NEXT TO NOTHING UNLESS THEY’RE A GENIUS OR JUST PLAIN INNOVATIVE.
Ok so its tough to pull anything off in the social networking world. That said all social networks definitely enjoy the snow ball effect too. Get a few popular kids in town on your VIP list (with free cover/drink coupons) and you will find them pull their friends and you will others wanting to become VIPs. So you never know!
I feel, one of the reasons the facebook is so popular is because it creates an online presence for real world interactions. You see people in class or the gym get introduced and almost always go look em up on facebook later! I think the same may hold true with people you meet at parties, dinners and other social events around town. I often catch someone’s name at a loud party and have a brief conversation but there is nothing beyond that. Maybe now there will be!
I dont think my friends are organized enough to publish/update their social calendars every friday nite but I can see a mini/more usable evite system being born within mingle now.
Anyways, I like it and I wish the “mingle now” team, good luck!
it’s funny because I’ve been building a website around the same idea before even mingle thought about it. http://tagmycity.com
You can read my first post about it (back in July 4, 2006) and screenshots of my progress here http://tektacti...riangle-of-evil
However, techCrunch never posted anything about me or my website.. mmm.
Make you think about all those small businesses who came up with good ideas but didn’t get noticed… Anyway good luck
Kinan:
You launched a site a few month back but there is no traffic whatsoever, I launched a site 4 weeks ago now my Alexa ranking is 80k and shooting up everyday. There are two possibilities: your service is not needed in the market. 2nd, you don’t know how to market it and have to come here to advertise. Think again.
but what about the social city guide i’ll see you (www.ilcu.com) with it’s user friendly layout?
Yawn – isn’t this already being done by DontStayIn – http://www.dontstayin.com ? Sounds like MingleNow may be more slick, but the basic premise (linking people by place and event) is the same, and DontStayIn has been running for years.
Laugh:
I haven’t launched the website officially yet. I am still doing testing. It has been online for only 5 days. I can always use your marketing knowledge
Thanks..
if it is well funded, it might work things out, yet the site does require solid PR, marketing and further branding…and not last as some folks from above made a note of that similar (if not the same) concepts do exist on the web for years…i’d personally be more interested in site that brings something new on the web, not just follow the popular and well established business models.. etc, etc
thanks and cheers to everyone
After trying all the obvious social networking sites I recently found heyletsgo.com, which is activity/event-based social networking done right, in my humble, just-a-fan opinion. It can get and no doubt will get much better, for now, it’s my new site on my daily visit list.
This is Gr8 Site