SANTA CLARA, Calif.--()--Loopt (www.loopt.com) today introduced Qs, local micro-reviews that represent a complete shift in how consumers can socialize information about places in real time. Qs adds to Loopt’s current mobile service that connects people to nearby friends, while strengthening people’s connection to local businesses. Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of Loopt, previewed Qs today at the Where 2.0 Conference in Santa Clara, Calif.
“Our goal with Loopt is to help users get the local information they actually want when they’re mobile”
Loopt will now let mobile users do two things very easily:
1. Get specific, useful information about a place in real time: Loopt users can easily flip through Qs results, which are presented like poll findings. This is a direct line into all the insider information about a place (for instance, an off-the-menu entrée, a specialty cocktail or the shortest bathroom lines at the ballpark). People can also push Qs to Loopt users around them to help get an answer.
2. Contribute to the local conversation: In less than three seconds, users can answer a short question about a bar, concert, park – or wherever they are at the moment. Each answer adds to the real-time local conversation, which is viewable in a location-based stream (located on the home screen of the Loopt app).
Written by a community team that intimately knows the area, Qs will be short, easy to answer, entertaining and tailored to the specific location. Qs are designed for the mobile user, encouraging an in-the-moment exchange of local information. People can also share on Facebook and Twitter – either to get help answering a question or to share their own answer.
“Our goal with Loopt is to help users get the local information they actually want when they’re mobile,” said Altman. “Mobile local search is happening in a different way than most thought – in general, users aren’t standing on the corner looking for the best Chinese food. They’re sitting in a restaurant, holding a dim sum menu, and scratching their head over what to order. The reality is: in a city like San Francisco, most places are worth going to. It’s what you do when you get there – that’s the information users need.”
Loopt aims to change the 90-9-1 rule for web and mobile content – that is 90% of people consume content, 9% interact with content and only 1% of users actually create the content.* Loopt has created a structured environment to lower the bar for involvement. Borrowing from a familiar poll format, the simple, quick-to-answer questions (most often multiple choice) encourage broader participation among users.
Available soon in the San Francisco Bay Area, Loopt will roll out Qs nationwide in the coming months.
More information and a video on Qs can be found on the Loopt Blog.
About Loopt
Loopt is a social service that connects people to their community. Loopt’s mobile application and website give users the inside scoop wherever they go – tapping into local intelligence about places, making it easy to find friends and track down the best deals. Devices with Loopt include iPhone, iPod Touch and Android. Loopt has more than five million registered users in the U.S. and offers a variety of intuitive privacy controls to its users. Loopt is based in Mountain View, Calif.
Find Loopt at www.loopt.com, www.twitter.com/loopt and www.facebook.com/loopt
*Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, “Participation Inequality: Encouraging More Users to Contribute,” October 9, 2006
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