Every Friday night, you’ll get the text “MA’s or Cityside?” or “White Horse or Tavern in the Square?” And, the occasional, unwarranted “Patron’s?” Your GroupMe is blowing up with impatient, tipsy girls saying, “Like this message if you’re going out! <3 ;)” And you’re just realizing you forgot to turn your curler on during this whole mess. Peer-pressure builds as you, the planner amongst wanderers, must find the perfect spot for the ~classy~ Friday night out.
Daniel Guthrie, a business student at Bentley University, felt this struggle (especially with the hair curler) and decided to find a way to take this burden off the planners’ shoulders. He created the HangOut App.
His reasoning: “The idea behind HangOut was born on a Friday night when my roommate and I were struggling finding what the move on campus was and wished there was a platform where students could easily, both privately and anonymously, express what their plans are. It was easy to see that group message notifications caused a lot of frustration and often did not yield quality communication. Days later we set out to build a new way for our peers to find and share plans.” Bless, Daniel.
The HangOut App revamps the way friends interact with each other, making it easier for users to start their weekend nights out right. This allows more room for creating those stories that only the “responsible friend” will remember.
The App
According to Daniel, HangOut is “a location-based event planner that allows users to post/see what is going on in their campus or area, how many people are going, and who. The average user enjoys the ability to see what the buzz on campus is and what type of social gatherings (sporting events, concerts, meetings, bars, etc.) their friends and classmates are going to.”
How To Use HangOut:
HangOut has two main pages: “My Area” page and “Newsfeed” page.
1) “My Area”: Anonymous, Location-Based Feed
- Good For: Quickly see what is going on in their city or school community
- Description: Anonymously promote an event to the HangOut community in a 25, 15, or 5 mile radius.
- Perfect use? Daniel says, “See the amount of people going out on Thirsty Thursday in order to decide whether you are going to miss anything if you stay in and watch Netflix.” Choose wisely.
2) “Newsfeed”: Private, Friends-Based Feed
- Good For: Easily see who of the user’s friends are free and create a HangOut to keep the good times rolling.
- Description: Eliminates the need of group chats. See what your college friends have posted and say, “I’m in” to the ones you would like to join. Users can also see what their friends who go to other schools are doing. Great way to avoid BU students.
- Perfect Use? “Use this page to coordinate trips to the dining hall or Chipotle. Post the event an event a couple hours before lunch, then check back to see what friends are going to join you. No one likes eating alone. No one likes group messages.” Again, bless.
HangOut 4 A Cause
HangOut supports a new, important cause every month! October’s cause is Breast Cancer. Use code PINK upon downloading HangOut and HangOut will donate 15 cents to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. So, even despite the free download, you’re helping a cause. Men and women for others, am I right? Download HangOut here.
HangOut works with Student Government and other school organizations on campus. Check out their social pages: www.officialhangout.co
- Instagram @officialhangout, @hangoutcollege
- Snapchat @officialhangout, @hangoutcollege
- Twitter @officialhangout, @hangoutcollege
Once you download the app, which you should totally do, join the team and help spread HangOut to your crew! Email daniel@officialhangout.co. He’ll HangOut with you.
Photo Sources:
http://bigappled.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/12nycfriends_gossip.gif
http://cdn2.crushable.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Sober.gif
http://appshopper.com/social-networking/hangout-events-around-you
http://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/thoughts-every-girl-has-when-getting-ready
http://bigappled.com/2014/11/25/14-types-friends-every-new-yorker/3/
http://www.crushable.com/2012/07/27/entertainment/maya-rudolph-gifs-video-funny-862/