During San Diego Comic Con, I got to sit down with the Cole Egger (CEO), and Zac Cooner (COO) to talk about their new geek app, Cosmunity. Cosmunity, which came out in February, allows you to follow your fandoms, find friends and events interested in the same fandoms all from one focused, convenient app.
So why use Cosmunity instead of just joining Facebook groups?
“It really comes down to having a more focused platform, where there are no other distractions from your fandoms.” says Zac, “When you step into Cosmunity, you step into a new world entirely, whereas on Facebook groups, you’re still in Facebook so you’re gonna get baby photos, your grandma’s status updates, news about Donald Trump, and you don’t get that on Cosmunity. In Cosmunity you’re focused on fandoms.”
There are so many different communities you can join. If you don’t see yours you can still create your own!
It also gives you a degree of anonymity; we all have those people we meet and connect with at conventions, but we aren’t sure that we want them to be able to see EVERYTHING on our social media profiles. With Cosmunity, acquaintances can only see a limited amount of information that you provide, instead of being able to see all your family members, embarrassing photos and statuses from years ago.
But what about my close friends that I want to connect and share with on the app? Fear not, by early August, you should be able to find your friends within the Cosmunity app by sharing your contact lists, so you can all geek out together.
One thing that seemed particularly interesting was their promotional show.
“We’re starting a reality show called “Making the Con” where we capture the stories of all the individuals who come to the conventions, tapping into what drives them to be here.” said Zac, “Not just their times at the convention, but also leading up to the con, so all the blood sweat and tears that go into cosplay, budgeting to come, and what goes into. Cons are quite expensive, so there’s a lot of information that goes into coming.”
“One of the stories that I saw that I like, are all the SyFy buses branded with quotes, and one of them is “saved all year to sleep at Hall H”. And I think that is really representative of the community, and the time commitment that goes into “making the con” that some people don’t understand or pay attention to.” said Cole, “But there are so many unique stories and efforts that go into making conventions, not only SDCC but over 900 cons nation wide.”
You can share your tips and tricks for the best con experience on the app, by uploading links and content directly to your Cosmunity profile, and there are plans for integrating with other apps in the future.
Cosmunity also lets you look at local events in your area, so you can find a Dungeons and Dragons night at a local comic shop, or an anime fan club meetup, where you can meet and make new friends within your fandom community.
The focus on fandom communities also makes a perfect platform for fandom marketplaces, so vendors and artists can tout their wares directly to the fans who appreciate them the most.
Just click on “Listings” at the top of the screen in your fandom to see everything for sale.
“These are showcased within the particular fandom, so you don’t have to go searching for them on giant site of unrelated content.” said Cole. “It also benefits the vendors and artists because they don’t have to pay a fee in order to sell their products in that focused community platform, 100% of the money they make goes to the artists.” Compare this to Etsy, which costs $0.20 to post an item and then a 3.5% transaction fee, PayPal which takes $0.30 plus 2.9% of the transaction, and eBay, which takes 10%, and it already becomes a great option for creators.
Download Cosmunity and let us know what you think of it in the comments below!