I’ve had a GetGlue account for quite some time now, but never really use it. The last thing I checked into was an episode of the long since canceled Undercovers two years ago. Yet, I get at least one email almost daily notifying me of a new follower to GetGlue.com/theTVaholic, which puts me at 892 as I write this.
What is GetGlue?
According to their website:
GetGlue is a social network for sharing with friends what you’re watching, listening to, or reading. As you check-in to and rate your favorite shows, movies, and music you can unlock rewards, including exclusive stickers. As we get to know your personal tastes, we will show you suggestions based on your preferences, what your friends like, and what’s trending on GetGlue.
You can use GetGlue via the web at http://GetGlue.com or on one of our mobile apps: http://GetGlue.com/apps
Basically, it’s @foursquare for TV shows, movies, etc. Instead of letting people know where you are and what you are doing, you let them know what you are watching, reading or listening to.
So, I’ve decided to use @GetGlue for the week, starting as of this posting thru the same time next Sunday, and see what the deal is. I will then post my thoughts on the service and decide whether I will continue to use it.
Do You GetGlue?
But, as I do, I want to hear from those of you that use GetGlue and those of you that don’t:
- Why do you use or not use GetGlue?
- Why should I use or not use GetGlue?
- Why use GetGlue over just using Twitter?
- What do you wish GetGlue did that it doesn’t?
- Anything else I should know about the GetGlue service, apps, etc.?
- Do you like one of the other similar social TV services like @GoMiso, @IntoNow, @Zeebox etc. better?
I’d really like to hear your answers. Let me know in the comments.
I use GetGlue, but the way it is set up, I find it a bit useless to help determine what shows friends and others are actually watching.
Get Glue offers stickers for checking into shows when they are coming soon and/or within + or – 1 hour of the show’s airing. The problem with this is that people like me tend to check into everything they are going to watch/DVR to earn the stickers, but not when they are actually tuned in. This means floods of messages (when people share to Twitter or Facebook–I have this disabled).
It would be better if GetGlue allowed you to earn the stickers no matter when you watch the episode–as long as it’s within the week the episode aired. This would encorage a more accurate look at what your friends are watching instead of mass checkins to get the stickers.
The other problem with GetGlue is that you can earn stickers way faster than they ship them–you can only request stickers once a month and they only mail you 20–but some shows offer new stickers for every episode.
Their recent update to the iPad app is a lot more useful to find out what’s new for the night that you might want to watch, but still doesn’t allow you to track what episodes you’ve watched and still need to watch. I also noticed the first time it brought up the app, it made me a follower of everyone i followed on twitter–which led to loads of notifcations–every time one of these people checked into a show I checked into.
I’m still checking in for the stickers but not sure how much longer I’ll bother as it will be years before they send them to me,
I use GetGlue almost every time for shows I watch. It’s a great way to start conversations with other users either there are on Twitter or FB when the check-ins post. I also love the stickers I can earn, and I have a lot but I don’t know what to do with them! ;)
I agree with the commenter that I wish the sticker option for a show lasted more than just the date the episode aired. I hardly ever watch anything the same day, but if I know there is a sticker I frequently will check in and say “recording it” just to get the sticker.
I like that after you check in to something there is a conversation of others who have checked in, but I don’t pay much attention to that until after I’ve seen most of the episodes because there are a lot of users who post spoilers.
I also like that there are rankings for shows that are compared to your friends. Another thing I like is the good records it keeps. Much like Netflix streaming history, I can go back and remember what I watched in order to decide to talk about it on my podcast or if I’m watching an older show to remember where I left off if it’s been a long time since I watched. On Twitter it would be nearly impossible to track this because I tweet about so many different things including shows I watch. I can also write more on a GetGlue check-in than in a tweet even though it gets truncated.
I use it. Cause I am a 12 year old and want the stickers. Yes, i actually have them sent to my apartment. I have a Friday Night Lights one on my laptop.
I don’t share on any other sights. Well, maybe facebook every once in awhile but I figure if someone wants to know what I am watching they’ll ask. I also have all my notifications turned off so I don’t get buried in their stuff.
I use it on my iphone and like the app. I like the “hot” list. Sometimes I see something listed that I forgot about or just didn’t know about. So it has it’s uses.
I’ve noticed two things that I wish were different already. One, it would be nice to be able to check into a specific episode of a show and not just the show itself. Two, if you type something in when you check-in and are posting your check-ins to Twitter, the only thing that allows you to know what show is being watched is the Twitter handle near the end of the Tweet.
Steph, I like the idea of having a record to look back on regarding what I have watched, but that is where my first concern above would come into play and make that more useful long term.
I use GetGlue pretty regularly but even so i’m nowhere close to some of the power users on there. It is fun to check in on stuff if you watch when its actually airing at least on the east coast.
If you check in on the actual airing sometimes its like sitting around the living room with a group of people fans of the same show and watching together.
More so than not at that point if you start posting and maybe say something smart or funny to someone it’ll start up conversations and before you know it its like you all are together watching the show live.
Thats when its really fun. Other than that its like a sticker chase which is funny because you really get nothing for them but yet people still want them.
People get really ticked when shows they think or episodes they think should have stickers don’t have them.
I use GetGlue and I used to use it all the time, but as far as social media goes, I’m usually too busy to write something but always seem to have time to read it all. LOL! I have been thinking about starting up GetGlue again though.
Jason, are you using Android or iPhone? There’s an app called Renewed for the iPhone that works on top of GetGlue and Miso that lets you check into specific episodes and track the shows that you watched to see what episodes you missed. I believe it probably uses the episode data from tvrage.com. There’s another iOS app called Episode Tracker that also uses this tvrage.com data. It doesn’t do social checkins, but it can be used to track what episodes of shows you have seen and what you haven’t.
Keith, I haven’t yet tried out the conversation side of things. Mostly because I don’t like being distracted when I’m watching something. Maybe if I was actually watching the show live, then I could do so during the commercial breaks.
Liz, Yeah, I kept seeing so many Tweets etc. from people using it that I decided to try it out again.
Kyle, I’m on Android and while I was looking to see if there were some similar apps to the iOS apps you mentioned, I came across http://trakt.tv. There are apps on Android, iOS and WindowsPhone that work with it. It seems to allow you to track what you watch and some of the apps seem to also work with things like GetGlue.
When getglue first came out, I chose it over Miso because it actually gave you something tangible in exchange for watching tv (stickers) however, I discovered a new app called Viggle which actually gives you real rewards such as gift cards for best buy, itunes, papa johns, etc. for checking in with audio from whatever you’re watching. I really enjoy having real rewards instead of stickers so that’s the main reason why I don’t use getglue as often anymore.
use trakt.tv … way more efficient =)
I also used GetGlue for a Looong time, first for the stickers, then when i obvously stopped getting them cause i never watched at air time (and i got boared of them), i used it to see the trends. To see if my friends were watching something that maybe i hadn’t discovered. The comments were also fun, to get likes and comments on my ideas of the shows. And at the end, i tried to use it to keep track of what i’ve already watched but came up with the same problem as Jason, i didn’t remember wich episode i was in.
Then i discovered TVShow Time!!
It’s the BEST app by far! No extra downloads like Renewed or Trakt use more tha one app like Episode Tracker…no ofense Kyle.
You can check in to a specific show, rate with emotions haha i thought that was cute, comment, share on facebook and twitter, see what your friends are watching, see the trending shows (most watched per day), see what episodes you’ve watched and which you still need to watch that are already available.
It even tells you when a show has been canceled and you get automatic notifications frojm 5 minutes before until 6 hours before!
The best TVST version is on iPhone but there’s also iPad and Android. You can even get the French and UK air dates!