www.itsnearme.com: What's good around this neighborhood? Tap into the brains of the locals to find out: Print This

Socialight brings recommendations from local users right to your browser or mobile device. With simple search and map-based browsing, finding the the latest hot spot or hidden gem is now easier than ever. Socialight mixes the best of mapping, social networking and mobile delivery into a location based service that leverages the knowledge of people who really know the place

To me the Upper West Side is an exotic and foreign land. But Dan, who lives there, knows a place on Amsterdam Ave. that serves amazing toasted gnocchi, a French Bistro where everybody knows your name and even a decent grocery store. Wish you could tap into Dan's brain every time you venture north of 65th street? Socialight lets you do exactly that: quickly get recommendations from locals and others in the know.

Socialight elegantly combines social networking, interactive mapping and mobile services into a single location based service that is phenomenally easy to use. Recommending a place is a snap: pin a 'sticky note' to a map, add a photo, decorate with light HTML, if you so desire, and that's about it. You can set the visibility of each note by sharing with the entire Socialight community, your circle of friends or reserve for your eyes only.

Looking for a good time near Union Square? Finding recommendations is just as easy. Point your favorite browser to the Explore page and search by location or keyword, or use the map to zoom in on your destination and reveal all the sticky notes left by other Socialights. If you're not locked in on a location, riffle through your friends' postings or just check out the latest public posts for inspiration. Socialight displays results as stickies on the interactive map and pops up a preview box with all the essentials and links to the full listings.

The service is designed with on-the-go users in mind. The clean web interface makes is easy to use with high-end mobile devices and a lighter WAP version supports just about any mobile phone. The company says a downloadable Java app is in the works and we even found instructions for posting and retrieving notes via SMS but we weren't able to make it work.

In the world of Wal-Mart-size social-networking behemoths, Socialight feels very much like a friendly, mom-and-pop grocery store around the corner. But this intimate scale is also Socialight's major limiting factor. As a social mapping site, Socialight doesn't pack the broad and eclectic variety of the likes of Platial and for on-the-street utility, nothing really competes with the immediacy, coverage or accuracy of Google SMS.

Still, we like Socialight's premise: who would you ask for tips and directions? Your friend who lives right in the neighborhood. Anyone who ever watched Mr. Rogers or Sesame Street can tell you that!

What's good around this neighborhood? Tap into the brains of the locals to find out

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