Social Discovery Apps Strike Out at SXSW

An emerging class of “social discovery” apps—which monitor your location and alert you when you’re in close proximity to people who have similar social media contacts or interests—dominated the hype cycle last week at the South by Southwest Interactive conference. But despite incessant cocktail party chatter about apps like Highlight, Sonar, Glancee and Banjo, none ended up enjoying a SXSW breakout along the lines of Twitter or Foursquare—when they worked at all. Many attendees were left wondering whether these apps could really be worth brand advertisers’ time.