A startup called Bazaar Labs just released a new app called Miso, way to share what movies and TV shows you’re watching with your friends. Like the company’s last app, FlixUp, this is a movie-focused spin on an existing social service.
The idea is that instead of sharing your location with your friends, like you do on Foursquare, you use Miso to share what movie or TV show you’re watching. Just as in Foursquare, you “check-in” — in this case you’re identifying a show or movie. Just as in Foursquare, you can add a comment, and you can win badges based on different kinds of check-ins.
Now, many of my friends in Foursquare already announce what movie they’re watching when they check-in at a theater, and the app also rewards you with the “Zoetrope” badge when you check-in at multiple theaters. But Miso is taking a minor use case and fleshing it out into a full-blown app — in the same way that Twitter allows discussion of movies but isn’t ideal for movie-centric discussions, Miso assumes there are Foursquare users who want want a richer social/gaming experience around this specific topic
Somrat Niyogi, chief executive and co-founder of San Francisco-based Bazaar Labs, said his team has spent a lot of time thinking about the gaming mechanics that best fit a movie and TV audience — presumably that’s why he kept pestering me on Twitter about the different Foursquare badges. One of the keys, he said, is to achieve a balance between obvious badges that you know how to win, and other badges that surprise you. (For more on this topic, you can see Niyogi’s thoughts on winning Foursquare’s “Douchebag” badge here.)
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You can download the app here. A new version should go live sometime this week, before the South by Southwest conference, with the ability to include your location in your check-in. You can auto-follow your friends from Facebook, and Niyogi said he will add similar capabilities for Twitter and your phone contacts list. The app is free, because Niyogi plans to make money through advertising and offers.
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