May 16, 2004
About dodgeball.com
An article from the Houston Chronicle on Dodgeball.com, the free social-networking service that is becoming popular with young singles - and that Joi Ito apparently is a member of, according to a recent amusing entry on his blog. The site uses cell phone text-messaging to wirelessly connect thousands of friends, and friends of friends.
"Based on the mutual-friends model popularized by Web sites such as Friendster, Dodgeball helps users meet up with their friends or new acquaintances -- but while they're out on the town instead of sitting in front of their computers.
Dodgeball members subscribe through the site, then build a group of friends by linking up with current users or, as with other social-networking services, by inviting outside friends to join their networks. Members become "friends of friends" with the friends of Dodgeball users they invite to their network.
When members want others to know their whereabouts, they use their cell phone to send a text message (like "@Luna Lounge") to the Dodgeball e-mail address for their respective city, like nyc@dodgeball.com. The service matches the location in its database of geocoded bars and restaurants, and sends an automated text message with the user's name and location and a head shot to all of their Dodgeball friends, as well as any friends of friends who have checked in within a 10-block radius.
Dodgeball.com is popular among barhoppers. Many say the service is a good alternative to calling friends from noisy nightspots".
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2004/05/003850.htm