Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Since we had a thread this morning talking about sceptics on HN ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1629583 ), I have to say that I'm not a big fan of this idea.

As it turns out, multiple people in the same location can already talk to each other. In fact, that's how it usually happens.

One of the problems I see with this is critical mass, will you get enough users on it to be useful? Note that most other location related services (say yelp, foursquare) don't require a critical mass of people to be at the same spot at the same time.

Conferences would certainly have enough people that some might wander in to your track's channel, but would it be used enough day to day for people to naturally open it up when they have an extra minute?




I actually think it's exactly the opposite.

If one of the main benefits of Foursquare is letting your friends know where you are, then it requires your friends to be there to engage.

I think that MessageParty is about exploring how to use chat to create new relationships with the people around you and places your at.

If there are only ten users of a service, I'd prefer that it doesn't much matter which ten their are.

I do think the earliest use cases will be things like concerts, though, versus general daily use.


It would be fun in coffee shops, bars, and book stores. Probably a good way to break the ice in meeting new people.

It might even be good in apartment buildings or neighborhoods. Say you're having a barbecue, you don't know your neighbors that well, but you have extra food and you'd like to meet them. Put a notice on the local IRC with message party.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: