Mystery Monday-iStalk: There’s an app for that!

OK, so maybe that header is a bit harsh. There’s a new iPhone app called Urban Signals. If you go to the proprietary site, you’ll get a cutesy little demo video of how it works; it basically turns your cell phone into a GPS device that helps point out other single-and-looking folks. At first blush I thought this was way creepy, but then I paused and thought about it and realized that since it’s an opt-in subscriber-driven app, the only people who will show up on your phone’s UI are exactly like you (editorially speaking). So it’s a lot like a less web 1.0 version of Craig’s List’s “Missed Connections” board, with the possibility of a “Casual Encounter” thrown in. So…still creepy, but vaguely consensual.
That said, I could see this blowing up in the faces of the creators of the app when the resulting network is comprised of a) an army of Comic Book Guys pinging b) a much smaller army of kind of cute girls with no self-esteem.

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Is it wrong that I kinda want this ap? I just think it would be fun to see who else uses it as I walk around the city.
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Comment by lisa — January 26, 2010 @ 6:24 pm
Wrong? No. Voyeuristic? Yes! I can definitely see the interest from that perspective, but based on the sign-up page, it doesn’t really lend itself to lurking—I don’t think there’s a “hide” function—which means you’d be fair game to the other users in the area.
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Comment by ex-boyfriend — January 26, 2010 @ 7:56 pm
Totally needs a lurk feature.
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Comment by Carrie — January 27, 2010 @ 8:03 pm