Buying someone a drink in person is a nice gesture, but buying someone a drink via Twitter is, well, not something you do often.
Online networking app Tweet-A-Beer hopes to change that and make paying for other Twitter users’ drinks more of a habit. The web tool officially rolls out at South by Southwest.
Here’s how it works (flip through the gallery below for a visual tour): Tweet-A-Beer uses Chirpify — an ecommerce platform that lets you buy, sell and donate money — to sync your Twitter account to your PayPal account. You can safely send beer money in $ 5 allotments.
Oregon-based agencies Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and tenfour brewed the app for public consumption in six weeks, just in time for SXSW where networking is known to stem from quaffing alcoholic beverages.
Networking app Tweet-A-Beer lets you send beer money in $ 5 allotments via tweets by syncing your Twitter and PayPal accounts.
For example, I sent $ 5 to Mashable colleague Sarah Kessler.
I personalized my transaction with a message, which was tweeted to my followers after I hit, “Send Beer Money.” The app also allows you to add your current location and a meeting location to drink beers together.
Tweet-A-Beer uses Chirpify — an ecommerce platform that lets you buy, sell and donate money — to sync your Twitter account to your PayPal account.
“It’s about helping people make real connections — enabling networking and socializing by purchasing each other a beer over Twitter, perfect for fostering the face-to-face connections,” says Reggie Wideman of digital agency tenfour, which teamed up with Waggener Edstrom Worldwide to brew the app.
Users have already bought more than 500 beers to incite in-person meetups or wish SXSW attendees good luck. For example, I sent $ 5 to Mashable colleague Sarah Kessler, who will be at SXSW reporting on all things dealing with startups. I personalized my transaction with a message, which was tweeted to my followers after I hit, “Send Beer Money.” The app also allows you to add your current location and a meeting location to drink beers together.
Pay @sarahfkessler $ 5 for a beer on me – Enjoy SXSWi! Hope you find the next big startup ► bit.ly/yin0PZ #tweet_a_beer
— Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) March 8, 2012
Another Twitter user shows some love for a SXSW-goer:
Pay @mattmcginnis $ 5 for a beer on me – Since I can’t make it to SXSW, I guess I can buy … bit.ly/z79al1 #tweet_a_beer
— kdagg (@kdagg) March 6, 2012
“Given how large the conference is, the best way to track where the hottest spots are and where to meet up face-to-face is via Twitter and location-based services,” Kent Hollenbeck, Waggener Edstrom senior vice president of global corporate communications, told Mashable. “We’re launching it at SXSW Interactive festival — it’s the perfect venue to help foster real-life connections.”
Waggener Edstrom will also introduce at SXSW a Windows Phone 7 app called News of the Day, which displays a real-time stream of top news and topics as well as trending stories on Twitter. Last year at SXSW, the company launched Hot Spots, an app that showcases popular hangouts in Austin.
Source: Mashable » Tech