I’ve been using Tiny Review [app store link] for a few weeks now, and I am absolutely loving it. I thought it’d be nice to sit down and write some of the thoughts that I have about the app so far. This is not intended on being a review, just some thoughts. As of now it has basic functionality, and after emailing back and forth with one of the founders, Melissa Miranda [twitter], I expect them to add more and more functionality.

Community

The users are the best part of the app. They are using it in myriad ways which I can only assume the founders did not expect. They seem pretty engaged to boot. Aside from posting their own pictures and reviews, the only actions that a user can currently take are to follow users, like posts, and add their reviews to the photos others have uploaded. People whom I don’t know are liking my posts and following me. Considering there is currently no search or “find your friends” functionality this is pretty impressive. This means other users are finding my posts or profile (probably using the “Nearby” list or seeing that others are following me), liking individual posts, and liking the aggregate of my posts enough to follow me. I don’t mean this to be a statement on the quality of my feed—which leaves much to be desired—but on the high level engagement of the Tiny Review users. 

Besides engagement, I’m amazed at the ways that I find myself—and others—using the app. It was originally intended to allow users to take a picture of a location and write three lines of text as a review. This is how the App Store description sums it up:

Tiny Review = 3 Lines + 1 Photo

Kinda like this:

I have used TinyReview in this way, but have also used it as a creative tool as well. In addition to the review work flow, I have noticed myself and other users do things like:

Using it to add “digital graffiti” to a location. This is commentary that is not exactly related to the location that it is tied to, but people will see when they browse that place. Here is an example:

Can you imagine if others started leaving similar notes at the airport? Pictures of friends, family, and lovers before they left. Pictures that express some deep joy—joy that is more related to the image captured than the location? I’m waiting to see a Tiny Review of some forgotten, innocuous location that is tagged, “this is where I met the love of my life”. How awesome would that be?! It really adds a human element to the location. Scrolling through the ‘reviews’ you would find reviews (of course), love notes, ironic musings, wisecracks, etc. The location starts to have character, rather than just a list of menu items stamped with stars.

Remixing user’s reviews. The functionality I may like the most is the “Add Mine” option. This allows users to add their Tiny Review on top of the photos others have taken. I use this in two ways. First, I use it to review locations that I am not currently near, but that I have something to say about. 

It also allows me to remix other people’s reviews. I can add my own thoughts, rebut other’s reviews, agree with other’s reviews, ‘converse’ with other users. This is a really dynamic, flexible way to interact with another’s photo. Currently you can leave comments on Reviews if you find the link to where they live on the web (www.tinyreviewapp.com/reviews/[username]/[somerandowmnumber]/), and I expect the founders will add comments in app as well. When they do those comments won’t replace the fun functionality of the “Add Mine” feature.

Taking pictures at a location without a review. Sometimes you don’t need words. When the app is used this way its users transform it in to a Foodspotting and Forkly competitor. It also mirrors the effect of adding unadulterated pictures to a location, a feature that Yelp likes to push. The best part about photos added in this way is that other users can still add their own review on top of the photo.

Taking pictures without a location. Something that I have done is make a Tiny Review that is location agnostic. While the app requires a location to be attached, I have found myself choosing the nearest location, even though the picture is not of, or about, that location. This gets to one of the reasons that I like this app more than Instagram. With Instagram the photo itself is my creation. It is hard to create a good/artsy photo to share with Instagram. The filters help, but it is much easier, and satisfying to add my witty comment to a picture than it is to take a good picture. It also means that I can write multiple Tiny Reviews to a photo without retaking a picture. Sometimes when I do this I feel like I am A/B testing my wit. It makes me giggle. The app developers could foster this user behavior by making a location optional. 

Those are my thoughts on how the Tiny Review community is using the app. It goes to show that if your app is flexible there is no telling the ways that users will take up and transform it. I look forward to continuing to use Tiny Review, recommending it to others, and discovering all sorts of fun uses in the future.