Let’s face it, we all know that Friday night feeling of getting ready and trying to figure out what the plan is for the evening. Texting multiple group chats to find the hottest party is a hassle and nothing is worse than FOMO. Miami grads Christina Janczak and Tessa Husain (’13) have created a solution for those annoying problems.
Whooley is a new social media app that allows users to not only see what is going on any given night, but it also lets you to see where your friends are through a live, interactive map.
The app lets you create an event called a “Whooley” that can range from a Project X party to a spontaneous get together with friends. Users create groups of people that they actually hang out with, not just obligatory “friends”. You can chat with your groups to see where and when to show up or plan a Whooley of your own. If a Whooley is coming up, you can click the “watching” feature to let your friends and group members know that you are interested in going to that event.
According to Whooley’s website, co-creator Janczak explains their inspiration for the app saying, “We wanted to never miss a party with our friends because we forgot about it, didn’t talk to the right people, or couldn’t find the place, ever again.”
Janczak and Husain recently visited Miami’s campus to spread the word. In one week they earned over 400 new users, or Whooligans, and 20 Whooley ambassadors.
Junior Jeannine Fisher is one of these ambassadors. She promotes the app and gets feedback from users about what needs to be changed or added to make it better. She explained her responsibilities saying, “We have meetings every two weeks to create goals and talk about why people didn’t download the app and what new features would influence people to download it, but we also talk about what people are liking and their favorite part of the app so we can focus more on that.”
The newest feature to Whooley solves a problem everyone has faced at one point or another. The “I’m up for…” feature lets you tell your friends what you feel like doing to see if they might be interested as well. According to the website, this new option is meant to stop second-guessing when it comes to making plans.
Fisher believes Whooley will change the way students socialize on all campuses, but especially Miami’s. “Miami is notorious for being cliquey, whether it’s in Greek life or sports teams, and I think the app allows different communities to hang out with each other,” she says.
Fisher gives a scenario saying, “If you are in Greek life and have a best friend on the soccer team, you could see the events your friends are watching that are different from yours. It could almost be like freshman year again where you start going to parties where you don’t know anyone and eventually the two communities’ paths cross more frequently.”
Sophomore Whooligan Lexi Evans uses the app every weekend. She says, “It’s really easy to use and it keeps me updated on what social events are going on.”
When asked what improvements could be made, Evans responded, “I love it. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Whooley is available free for download on the App Store.