The Web can be a wonderful place in terms of discovering news and content tailored to your interests. But as search engine optimization has become more and more powerful, personal discovery is slowly going away. Not to mention, global content tends to trump local content. Meanwhile, on social media, there’s so much noise that your whatever you say seems to get drowned out. All of this means that you may be missing out on some interesting and inspiring stories and tidbits that are happening right around you. Spatter, the brainchild of MIT MBA grad Ori Spigelman, works like a virtual billboard to bolster the local voice.
Spatter first launched In the iTunes Store in January, and there have been several updates to the app—also available on Google Play—since then.
“It’s a way to say — I have something to say,” explained Spigelman in a phone interview. “And I want people who are physically nearby to see it.”
“Spatters” are the posts you leave for the community—and can highlight local news, happenings or personal insight. Spigelman emphasizes that these posts, which have a max of 256 characters, are not about who you are, but what you say. To that point, crowd-pleasing spatters will be more visible, while dull ones will fade away. There are no categories with spatter, so posts can range from a heads up about a soup special at a local cafe, a house to stay away from on Halloween or parade going on down the street.
When you decide to post something, you can indicate whether you’d like it to appear for a day, a week, or forever. And when users open up the app, they’ll see the spatters that were posted near them. They then have the option to “like,” comment on or share the posts via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
“There’s something very validating about having someone share something you expressed without knowing who you are,” said Spigelman.
Spigelman emphasizes that these posts are not about who you are, but what you say. And to that point, your username is optional, meaning anything you post can remain anonymous. However, any user can take any spatter off the air, discouraging inappropriate or abusive content.
Spigelman added that Spatter is a fitting platform for getting the word out on local news. Reporters can even include a hyperlink to their news articles within their Spatter posts.
Currently, there are five people working on Spatter, with seven others involved part-time. The Newton-based startup, which is self-funded, was launched in late 2013, and will be demoing at WebInno’s 10th Anniversary Event Tuesday, June 23.
“With most applications today, you read far more than you leave behind,” Spigelman told BostInno. “The beauty of it is, Spatter is an application that encourages people to speak. It’s a blank canvas.”
All images via Spatter.
