thingloop has users in 44 countries!

Owen, founder of thingloop shares his thoughts on the story so far.

So we're 8 months on from our launch. What's happened? How is thingloop doing?



Who's using thingloop?
Sharing certainly seems to have global appeal, as there are thingloop users in 44 different countries. Although the majority of users are from the USA, UK, Canada and Australia.
 

What are people sharing?
People are listing and sharing all sorts of things, as last weeks addition of a cash register proved! Clothes was another thing that kind of surprised us.

The top 30 most common items listed, by category, is shown below. DVDs and books feature pretty heavily, which makes sense as they are both more common and lower value items. The actual borrowing stats reflect a broader range of items, featuring slightly more in the way of everyday practical items, like ladders, etc.

What are the best things so far?
For me I think the best things so far are:

• Stories, like Esther's, of people using and loving thingloop.
• People sharing the vision
• People sharing!
• Actually getting my stuff back! I've got 24 things loaned out at the moment, and I know where all of them are. I'm sharing with zero stress, awesome.

Owen, Founder of thingloop

Announcing 'Gigantic July'

Following on from the success of 'Monunental May', we are having a 'Gigantic July'. During 'Monumental May' we managed to double the amount of stuff on thingloop. Let's double it again during July!

Why not get involved in Gigantic July? Here's a few things you can do to help us spread the word that something as cool as thingloop is out there:

• Add 10 new items - your friends are more likely to join you if you've got some stuff on the site
• Invite 10 friends to join - if you haven't already invite your friends to join
• Facebook wall updates  - you can switch these on, in your profile settings, which will help let your friends knows about thingloop

New Features
During July we will also be working on a number of new features. We've got some cool ideas that we think will improve thingloop, but we'd really like to known what you think.

If you've got any ideas, seen something that you think could be improved or is just plain broken, then why not let us know? You can comment here, use the feedback feature on the site, or get involved in the discussion we've started on our Facebook page.

Connecting you with your friends

Our team is loving thingloop, in the past couple of weeks we've borrowed/lent a PS3 game, DVDs, books, some dresses, an airbed, a drill and a ladder!

But we're aware that a large number of our new users haven't managed to connect with many of their friends. This means that you're not yet enjoying any of the benefits of thingloop.

We are working hard on features to help you connect with your friends and get sharing. So we're really pleased to announce the release of our new email contact import feature (see the 'Friends' view). This enables you to retrieve your contacts from your email account and choose people to invite to join you on thingloop.

So why not give it a whirl, and let us know how you get on. Spread the word, and increase your loop.

Monumental May
So Monumental May was awesome, we saw a 1000% increase in the number of users, despite falling somewhat short of our £100k total of items.

We are expecting a large increase in the number of items on the site, as people begin connecting with more of their friends and have people to share with! Thanks for your patience and perseverance as we build critical mass.

Announcing project 'Monumental May'

People are already sharing over £8,000 ($11,500) worth of stuff on thingloop, but we know there's a lot more out there waiting to be shared.

That's why today, we're announcing project 'Monumental May': our aim is to get people to have loaded over £100k ($144k) worth of stuff onto thingloop by the end of May.

Is it possible? We think so. But we need your help. Want to be part of Monumental May? Here's a few ways you can help:

1. Sign up to thingloop, if you haven't already; it really is pretty cool!
   
2. Connect with your friends, and upload info on items you're willing to share
   
3. Suggest the thingloop facebook page to all your friends
   
4. Use the share links at the top of the home page to spread the word
   

You can keep track of the progress of Monumental May by checking out the running total on the homepage.

Other News ... We're really keen on getting your feedback, that's why we'll shortly be incorporating a feedback feature directly onto the website.

In addition, we're investigating ways of polling users to find out which new features they'd most like to see. We'll keep you informed.