New startup Shaker plans to make group hangouts on Facebook a can’t miss event. When we interact with groups of people online it is usually via a jumbled timeline filled with status updates. Following the conversation of a major event is typically handle via discussion groups or in the case of Twitter hashtags. What makes the hashtag so compelling on Twitter is that you can track who is saying what on a given topic in real time.
In real life we don’t need such conventions to see and interact with each other, proximity allows conversations to and introductions to flow freely. Take for instance when at a party, you can walk around mingle and introduce yourself to anyone. That is the natural way for people to meet.
On social networks the process of having a large group hangout can be quite clunky. Due to Facebooks limitations on friend requests, you end up only interacting and seeing the actions of people who are directly connected to you. Shaker throws that old convention of making Facebook friends out the window, now you can walk up to anyone attending an event and get to know them. Clicking on someones profile pic brings up info about the similar interests you have in common, now you have a topic of conversation to start of with. Shaker helps you to break the ice online.
The videogame industry has been at the forefront of avatar based human interaction online. Games like World of Warcraft and Second Life come to mind, when considering how groups with similar interests can bond to together in virtual worlds.
Borrowing a page from this play mechanic Shaker has created a virtual local scene for Facebook users to meet via their common interests. The Facebook app is Flash based and uses little mannequin figures as avatars. A real cool feature I’m digging is that when attending a virtual party, the app plays streaming music that makes you feel like your in an actual bar. In fact seeing as it replicates the bar scene so well, it could quickly turn into an online dating community.
To join a conversation on Shaker, just walk up to a person and introduce yourself the same way you would in real life.
You can see the Techcrunch Disrupt meetup I attended via Shaker today. Considering that I’m in Chicago and they are in San Francisco, this as close to being in the same room as one can get online. The people in the room were quite friendly and overall held a positive opinion of Shaker. It is still early days yet (Shaker launched three weeks ago) but if the viral nature in which it is spreading across Facebook is any indication, we’ll all be hanging out in virtual lounges soon.
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