[sycr]

This needs to be more than just updates from friends. Facebook does that well enough. Simply organizing a certain type of update into a stream isn't a sufficient reason for people to use the app unless everyone else already is.

Here's what might work though: aggregate and map local, context-aware events: local as in things that are happening nearby, and context-aware as in things that suit my interests. Why not consume data from Songkick for example - like displaying concerts and music events. Or figure out a way to generate data from bars and nightclubs. Maybe mashup something from Yelp? Make it easy, fun, and intuitive to browse this type of information - with data from your friends mixed and layered in.

That way, there's a reason to use this thing without the luxury of having friends who are users (which, frankly, will be everyone).

I've been thinking a lot about this stuff myself - I'd be happy to toss back ideas outside of HN. My address is in my profile.

[alanpca]

Thanks for the suggestion. We're already working on curating some top events for a bunch of populous cities. I'll shoot you an e-mail and perhaps we can talk further.

Edit: you may want to also take a look at our "nearby" events. While the list may admittedly be a little dry if you're outside of a high-populous area, it's a cool feature.