Getupp.com – Use Social Peer Pressure To Force You To Reach Your Goals
April 26, 2011 in Energy, Gamification, Health & Medicine, Home & Lifestyle, Internet, Tourism
For many people, the dawn of the New Year presents opportunity for new beginnings. This is what drives the practice of New Year’s resolutions. But the statistics are not good – few people manage to sustain the momentum on their resolutions beyond March.
Even worse is that this is not a problem bedevilling New Year’s resolutions alone but also many other day to day activities people purpose to do. The Getupp app for the iphone has been developed by a German start-up precisely to increase the completion rate of one’s commitments. Getupp does this by introducing a human element that has long been known as a powerful driver for goal realization – peer motivation.
Set a goal that only you know and chances are, you will struggle to meet it. On the other hand, if you make a commitment jointly with 2 or 3 friends, the camaraderie will reduce the likelihood of you giving up along the way. The very notion of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is evidence of how seriously people instinctively consider the opinions of those around them.
How does the Getupp app work? First, you commit to performing a certain action that requires you to be physically present in a specific location at a specific time in order for you to perform it. For instance, you can commit to go to the gym on Monday and Thursday at 1800hrs. Or you could commit to be home for dinner by 1900hrs.
When you make the commitment, the details are automatically shared with your Friends on Facebook. Your friends have the opportunity to vote on whether or not you are likely to fulfil your pledge.
Once you arrive at the site of the intended activity, launch the Getupp app and it automatically flags the commitment as fulfilled notifying your Facebook friends in the process. Getupp is location based, meaning you cannot flag a task as complete unless you are physically present (or at least the iphone is) at the location you indicated you would carry out the action.
If you fail to be at the activity’s location at the time specified, your Facebook friends are notified of your ‘failure’ and are free to mete out any other ‘punishment’ they deem fit.
Getupp addresses a real need. But while many people will not mind using it once in a while and mainly for fun, few are likely to use it daily. This app appears mainly geared to young adults. Even in this demographic though, it will have to struggle with a ‘juvenile-ish’ perception. This is regardless of whether one is actually succeeding or failing in fulfilling their commitments.
The very thought that one’s information is being distributed to all their Facebook friends (who are often of very varied temperaments, ages and convictions) can create a fear of embarrassment that may reduce uptake and ultimately, the Getupp app’s use.
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