OK, if you're following along you will have a collection with a few coffee shops added at this point. Nice work. But what's the big deal about TogetherMap? There's literally 100s of mapping apps out there, right? Is this just another mapping app?

Grab a Friend

The fun of TogetherMap is the collaborative spirit of mapping in real time. We've all used Google Docs at this point - well, real time collaboration is quickly becoming a commodity on the internet and yet there's no map app that I know of that's built this real time functionality into a mapping app.

Do you have that friend yet? If you don't have that friend handy, you can open up a second browser, get your cell phone, or whatever. The point is - when you add a place in TM, anyone else following that collection gets the update immediately (without a reload), and can respond with their own edits.

This is true almost everywhere in TM. Comments are made in real time on places (like a chatroom), collection lists are refreshed on-the-fly, and even users accepting permissions are updated instantly. Grab 100s of friends if you have that many, and watch the map come to life.

Place-based Conversations

A big part of TM is place-based commenting. It's a pretty simple addition to an idea that's everywhere on the web. Basically you have a conversation thread tied to each and every place you make. Make a comment and see what other followers of the collection have to say in response.