Mobli App: A “Do” or a “Don’t”?

In doing research for new apps to feature on this blog, I came across an app called “Mobli” that seemed a little like instagram on steroids.  From what I gathered, it’s a photo sharing app that allows you to share photos across multiple social platforms.  In fact, I “found” Mobli when I noticed a friend was sharing photos on Twitter via the app.  There’s also an explore/discover kind of feel to Mobli.  You can follow photo streams based on keywords or scan photos from people in your own area. 

Here’s the thing – I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the app.  I'm sharing my experience with you below.

Since I wanted to discover and personally use new apps (in addition to my favorites) with you on this blog, I downloaded the Mobli app.  I wanted to get comfortable with it before I shared my experience with you.

So, I downloaded Mobli and began looking around.  The first thing I did was look for my  friends (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) on Mobli. Was it easy to find them? Turns out, not many of my friends are using Mobli.  So, I started to look around for folks in the Charleston area on Mobli. 

Seriously, folks

Most of the photos from Charleston users were not anything like what you’d see on Instagram.  No fun photos of nature, art, dining out, etc.  Instead, I found most of the Charleston area photos to be pretty bizarre, honestly. Not Mobli's fault! Several photos of what appeared to be a spider bite.  Other injury-related photos – like showing off a bad bruise.  Then there were far too many “Am I cute?” photos that the 18-25 year old crowd loves to take and share (no offense intended). 

The upside? The neat part about Mobli is a feature where you can save word searches, for something like “photography” or “nature”, and then follow the photo stream attached to that tag - from all around the world. 

My Mobli hangup? Turns out Mobli shares a thumbnail preview of every photo you view on the app with your Facebook friends.  So, my friends were alerted to me browsing those spider bite and bruise photos. A tattooed pregnant belly. And an album called “bored”.  Not to mention tough guy “Lucciano”.  The best Charleston has to offer, folks! (Smile). Of course, nothing inappropriate, but this bothered me. 

For this reason, I decided to remove Mobli from my phone and Facebook (note, you have to remove in both places).  Could I have edited my Mobli Facebook settings to not share my photo viewing stream? Sure.  I have a problem with an app that posts to my Facebook wall without me specifically selecting “share to Facebook” with each photo viewed or shared -  it just seems a little underhanded.  My personal opinion, yours may differ. 

It’s a bit strange to share an app with you without a glowing review, but I wanted to be honest about my experience.  I may give it another spin, only following a few select keywords. 

Until next time…

Laura is a marketing professional and blogger who has been active in social media since 2005.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to this blog via Email or  RSS. Laura can also be found on Twitter (@LauraCatherineO), Facebook, and LinkedIn.