Give TryThis.com A Try

Need some help in finding a good Italian restaurant in your area? Looking for a new addictive TV show to follow? TryThis.com is a new social recommendation and discovery site where you can recommend just about anything…products, services, even people.

Without even registering, you can browse through the “Stuff People are Asking About” and the “I Just Tried” sections of the site which will show you recommendations that people have already suggested or requested on the site. If you haven’t found exactly what you were looking for, you can also search for a specific topic and find what others have said about it.

There is a vast array of topics that are already being discussed…TV shows, news, bars, movies, restaurants, relationships, startups, marketing, etc. There is even currently a mock election to see who should be President of the United States next term. On Halloween, TryThis.com will contribute $1000 to the candidate with the most votes.

 

 

After the registration process, users are instructed to build their group of interests. During this stage, users are presented with a grid on the right side of the screen, and a search box on the left. Using the search, users can find products that they are interested in, represented by thumbnail images. These images can then be dragged over to the “Interests” grid, where it will save that product as one of the user’s interests.

 

 

It’s interesting to browse through the site and see what products and topics people are talking about. You can ask for a recommendation from the whole community or just from your friends. I like this feature because it allows me as a member to have some control over my own privacy. There may be be certain questions that I only want to share with my friends and not with everyone else.

When you post a request for a recommendation you are required to provide tags along with your request. This allows for a more organized site and relevant search results. When you post a recommendation about a specific product, you are are provided with the same drag feature from the Interests section. The search for the product is managed in the same way, and all you need to do is simply drag the desired product image to the small box below. During this process search results can be narrowed by store, with available choices such as Amazon, Buy.com, CompUSA, PC Mall and more.

 

 

TryThis uses the Digg ranking method for the recommendations that users provide, and also offers users the ability to just post comments about the topic if they do not have any advice to give.

Shoaib Anwar, co-founder of TryThis, tells me: “We’re working to add a lot of new features including categorization of requests and suggestions…plus to kick off the site, a point system to award prizes to users with good recommendations. We’re still working out the details but hope to introduce the contest soon.” Features that they are currently working on adding include:

1) New stores to recommend products from

2) Categories to help separate requests like “Looking for a date who enjoys Broadway Shows” from  “Need new horror stories to read”. One of the cool things about the site is that people can recommend other people to each other, so not only can you help your friend find a date, but you could potentially use the site to hire new employees based on friends’ recommendations.

3) Ability to discuss stuff that people have submitted in the “I Just Tried” section

4) A Facebook application within the next week that is similar to the “I Just Tried” section

5) A point system so users can be rewarded by each other for good recommendations and win prizes

6) A way to submit or request stuff right away via your mobile device

7) An advertising platform where vendors can give featured recommendations which would offer discounts to the users, but be subject to the same voting system as other recommendations — making it in the best interest of the advertiser to offer high quality benefits/rewards

One problem I found while testing out the site is that each time I submitted profile changes, a small dialog box popped up in the middle of my screen which essentially “froze” me from taking any other actions until the box disappeared. This was a bit annoying to say the least and should be fixed as soon as possible.

Another issue I have with the site is this: While it is great that you can discuss so many different topics, in my mind it also presents a problem. Many of the topics on the site did interest me, but many others didn’t. It would be good if TryThis.com found a way to filter out the “noise” for me based on my own particular interests, tags, behavior, etc.  So for example, if the system knows I am usually interested in Web 2.0, software, technology, social networks, etc., it would present me with this info on my homepage and not with other topics. Think of it as a customized homepage based on your own interests. The system would then notify me everytime someone made a new recommendation or requested a recommendation that was related to my particular interests. Just like Yedda, the knowledge community, filters out the vast amount of questions on its site that may not be of interest to you by sending you emails in regards to specific questions that relate to your particular tags of interests, TryThis could do the same. I think this would greatly enhance the site and encourage more users to sign up.

TryThis is only a month old so it still has some time to improve its service. Overall I liked the concept and the interface and I definitely think it would be worthwhile for you all to check it out.