Are you a Socialight?


A quick update from the road: Some friends of mine, Michael Sharon and Dan Melinger have been working on an interesting project that has finally come to fruition. I've been working with them to raise awareness for the launch alongside my colleague Peter Himler, and I think it holds tremendous potential.

In essence, Socialight is a platform that allows people to tag information, media, etc to a defined place, anywhere in the world. There's also an interesting social networking element to it, and it seems most people start out using it on the web interface initially to tag their favorite places (stores, restaurants, bars) and generally good finds around the world.

An excerpt from the press release:

First developed as part of a project at New York University’s Interactive
Telecommunications Program (ITP), Socialight lets both individuals and publishers post location-aware content that can be “pulled” via search or “pushed” as part of a spam-proof, opt-in channel exactly when and where it’s most relevant.

For example:

• Curious about the real estate around New York’s or San Francisco’s Union
Square? Subscribe to a real estate channel and view rich media listings
using your mobile phone – pushed to, or pulled by you while you’re out
walking in the area.

• Want the inside scoop on the coolest, hard-to-find shops in London? Use
your mobile phone to see what your fashion-forward friends have tagged in a
particular shopping district.

• Looking for restaurant reviews from friends whose opinions you trust? Use
your cell phone to access their creative take on the food and service...before
you’re led to your table.

• Take a walking tour of virtually tagged landmarks around Boston, enriched
by trusted tidbits of information... off the official tour map.

• Or, create your own channel based on your personal preferences and
insights and share it with your friends.

It may seem like an abstract concept at first, but go create a username and play around. After you make a few Sticky Notes from the web interface, go and give it a try on your mobile. They are still working out some minor kinks here and there, but I think once you spend some time on it, the true potential becomes quickly apparent. Let me know what you think. My username is cjn208.

Also, for an in-depth interview with Socialight CEO Dan Melinger, go check the Q&A over at Emerge Trends.