Social Networking for the Antisocial - Cloak

Who said social networking can’t be antisocial? There’s a new app claiming to be the antisocial social network, or the social network for those who are antisocial.

Using location data, Cloak makes it easier for you to avoid your connections in real life.

Using location information, Cloak shows you where you fiends are so you can avoid those places. If they’re at a bar or restaurant, for example, you know to avoid that place if you don’t want to run into them.

Cloak identifies and maps the contacts in your immediate vicinity using location data from other social apps.

It’s like the opposite of location stalking. If someone checks in somewhere, or ticks that box when you buy tickets to concerts and gigs that post it on your Facebook, potential stalkers can then go to that place or buy those tickets to chance an “accidental” run in with you. Cloak does the complete opposite.

The app pulls in location information from your social networks to show you where friends are so you can avoid accidentally bumping into people you don't want to see.

Connect Cloak to Foursquare and Instagram and the app brings up a map displaying your location and the locations of friends who have checked in nearby. If there's someone you want to avoid, select "flag" and the app will alert you when that person gets within a certain radius of you.

For now, the app only pulls in location data from Foursquare and Instagram, so it's only useful if you follow the people you're trying to avoid on these two social networks. They are working on connecting the app to more services in the near future.

"Personally, I think we've seen the crest of the big social network," one of Cloak's founders Chris Baker told The Washingtob Post.

"Things like Twitter and Facebook are packed elevators where we're all crammed in together ... I think anti-social stuff is on the rise," said Baker, a former advertising executive at popular social news website Buzzfeed.