I love Loopt. It was on the iPhone at launch and had a rocky start but after the smoke cleared I found it to be a fun app. You could share your location with friends and when you update your location, a message was posted to Twitter and Facebook with a link to your exact coordinates on Google Maps. Yesterday, 1.1 of Loopt was released with some new additions.

One of the main features was called “Loopt Mix” which looks at your current locations and shows others in your area. You can be-friend them or send them a message. Their email address is hidden by a loopt.com address. Users can opt-in for the service for those that are concerned about privacy. I immediately turned it on and opted in as a guy that was interested in “networking and business” and for a little fun I clicked that i was interested in “women.” It asks for your birthday and gender and you’re done.

When I opened Loopt this is what I saw:
Loopt mix

It’s all guys. That’s fine with me. I wasn’t actually looking to meet women but I was surprised when I opened up all 20 guys in my area’s profiles and realized they were all interested in “men.” Once again, that’s ok with me. I’m not gay and don’t mind meeting gay men as long as they understand that it’s strictly friendship. The funny thing is, I received a message from a guy named “Oliver” today:
loopt-oliver

I responded that I’m fine and he immediately asked, “you wanna hang out later at my place?” C’MON! My profile says that I’m interested in women. Now I’m being asked to hook up by some guy. Looks like I’ll be turning off Loopt Mix for a while because at this time, the entire 5 mile radius around me is full of gay men looking to go out.

That’s fine if that’s what Loopt has become but I guess I no longer belong there. A place where I thought I could meet new people with an easy to use location aware app has shifted to a different set of people. No worries. There’s always brightkite.