Hackathon Pre-Game

by greenspacewriter 08/26/2012

The Hackathon is nearly upon us and as we gear up to resolve challenges regarding sustainable practices via the use of digital software, it’s often helpful to take a look at existing programs that address current issues.

Take Hackathon leader, Pablo Schuhmacher, owner of the social media company loci.st. Loci.st is a social networking app that allows users to communicate activities to fellow loci.st users. The app gives users great freedom in creating what content is published, leaving it up to you to communicate events, whether it be a dinner party or your band’s show, to others.

The app also includes an adjustable map, allowing you to stipulate just how far you are willing to go (or walk) as well as see what is going on in your immediate area. This feature was, in fact, the idea that initiated the creation of loci.st. Pablo’s vision for the app was very much location-based and spoke to his own desire to allow people sharing the same space to also share information about themselves with each other.

In essence, loci.st can be used in a number of ways, however, it is perhaps most interesting to look at it from a community building perspective. It is especially true in urban communities that, despite high population density, city dwellers do not know their own neighbors. A person that you recognize and one that you’re acquainted with are two very different things, after all. Hence, loci.st offers an exceptional opportunity to connect with those around you, who you wouldn’t otherwise know shares your same passion for French cinema or Irish rock. In other words, Pablo’s app is a social network that assists us all in finding common ground with those around us.

Some additional benefits to the app are that they pose an opportunity for self promotion. Not only can you share what you’re doing on a particular night, you can also broadcast events that you’re either attending or actually involved in. Any upcoming gig, theatrical production, or performance of any kind can be broadcasted to other loci.st users.

All that said, it is up to loci.st users to decide how they utilize this technology and is an entirely collaborative effort between the users. Hopefully such technology will not only lead to greater social networking between city residents, but also face-to-face interaction, something all millennials could use a bit more of.

To find out more information about loci.st, please visit http://loci.st/ or simply download the app - it’s free! Also, please join us, in person, at the GreenspaceNYC Hackathon at Wix Lounge on August 29th and get to know like-minded social networking folks!

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