Google's Area 120 Launches Shoelace, A New App To Bring People Together In Real-Life

Photo: Shoelace

Google’s latest attempt at a social media networking platform comes in the form of Shoelace, a new mobile app launched by the company’s in-house incubator, Area 120. 

Shoelace aims to bring people together through their shared interests, offline and in-person. According to the website, it's perfect for people "who have recently moved cities or who are looking to meet others who live nearby" and want to meet and hang with people in real-life.

The app works by asking users their interests (i.e. dogs, sports, wine, art, books, running, etc). Based on their interests, it provides them with a series of recommendations for "hand-picked" local activities, which are called "Loops." Users can also create their events and activities and invite others to come along including non-Shoelace users.

As of right now, Shoelace is invite-only and only available in New York City, however the app’s goal is to eventually go nationwide. Those who are interested in receiving an invite to Shoelace, can apply here.

Over the years, Google has had several failed social media experiments such as Orkut, Google Buzz, and most recently, Google+. It's way too early to know whether Shoelace will be a success or failure.

The launch of Shoelace itself, falls in line with Google’s bigger push to utilize technology to facilitate real-world connection and combat the negative effects that it has on mental health.

In other Google news, the company recently announced that individual podcast episodes will now surface in Search results.

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SOURCE: Shoelace