Heard of Twitter/Foursquare? Well, Microblogging services are gaining traction in India and expect experimentations in these newer formats of communication.
Revu.in (short for Review) lets you share your experience (i.e. ‘What are you experiencing now’) – you can share your review (of anything) uby sending SMS (send REVU <handle> <your review>) and the same is published on the site. The service also enables you to check-in to places as well (send CHKIN <handle>).
Since the service is just launched, we thought we will do a 10-point review (sorry, revu :D) and share a few pluses and minuses. [10-Point-Review ? Because it makes you think about what really matters. ]
- (+) Attitude. “Name Place Animal Thing” anyone? 🙂 When you’re having fun you’ll build good stuff.
- (+) SMS, especially on a long code. Syntax is a little bit of an issue, but its still an easy, popular channel.
- (*) Its like FourSquare (including calling the idea of checking in just that!). Ok, what does that imply ?(This is about the idea/FourSquare, not Revu per se)?
- Will-become-cityguide-through-UGC plans.
- Location solved through user submission. Smart.
- Will have deep hyperlocal info.
- Will surface social recommendations.
- Awesome way of providing business-consumer connects.
- (+) Revu does all of the above. There are already a couple of businesses on board. So they have already gone out and ‘sold’. Good!
- (-) Revu does little else. If FourSquare – which already has traction in an early adopter crowd – adds texting for India, boom!
- (+) But hey, FourSquare may take forever connecting with biz in India, and thats where the user rewards will come from! Revu could even take the path of primarily providing tools to businesses to engage with consumers.
- (-) I have no clue how FourSquare got so popular, but it ain’t trivial. Viral spread and a critical mass are key. Growth Plateaus <http://www.markevanstech.com/2010/02/06/is-foursquare-for-real/> may be hit quicker in India. There is nothing capturing any geographical nuance yet. Ok, there is the movies bit added….
- (-) Spam/lack of cleanliness in UGC data is beginning to show already. Will matter a lot!
- (+) Good buyout opportunity for a major VAS player, or even an operator if it achieves scale in even in some metros.
- (-) Not clear if there is a strategy beyond do a FourSquare for India. Nothing wrong with that, but risky to follow a curve.
What’s your take on Revu? Do revu revu and share your revu with us! 
[Note from Ashish: Mouthshut too has a similar service that enables users to share reviews via sms.]
