Julia Weber & Christian Kranemann
From Uhldingen and Werne, Germany
3 years in Hamburg
jetztra founders
Hey guys! What’s jetztra, and how can we use it?
jetztra is a social discovery app that connects people based on shared interests. The goal is to bring people together for activities in the offline world. Just like a search engine, users post their interests to get in contact with users with similar postings. A post is up for only 24 hours, and we don’t do classic profiles. We lose so much time browsing through content, profiles and timelines that we forget the most important thing that we originally expected from social networks: meeting interesting people. This is the reason for the special focus we put in jetztra. We launched our our web-app (beta) in October 2016, followed by our native App for iOS and Android in March 2017.
Sounds good. But why are posts only up for 24 hours? And what if I don’t know that I like doing something yet?
First, the 24 hours deadline. The reason for this is that we want to offer relevant content to our users. The time constraint ensures that all postings are always up to date. Additionally, shifting dates from one day to another or keeping them not binding until the last moment is really frustrating. With jetztra, the date of the activity is already set: Not yesterday, not next month, just today. This leads to a much higher likelihood that activities are really taking place.
And, yes – you need to get active to see the activities of other users. This is something which is quite unusual because we are so used to just consume content. At jetztra we ask one simple question: What do you want to do? This may be an exact idea like going to the movies or visiting an exhibition. Of course it may also be a rough idea of spending the evening with others. The answer to this questions serves as entrance ticket to see postings of others and get in contact with them. Based on what you would like to do, we select postings that match your interests. But it’s also possible to see other postings in the selected area – and to get in contact with them. So there’s always a chance to find inspiring activities that you haven’t thought of.
I see! What about you, have you used your own app yet to meet people?
Currently our focus is to make jetztra a great community, where you can find like-minded people quickly and enrich your social live. Since we have been on a pretty tight schedule, we have been looking for spontaneous activities, like going for a after work beer, or meeting for a coffee when the weather was nice and we had some time to spare. But we also have found company for going to the theatre, which was really nice, and we regularly meet people over jetztra for watching „Tatort“ in a cafe.
Photo used with permission.
HAMBURG CITY TIPS
Your favourite place to meet new people in Hamburg?
We really enjoy going to Hamburger „Eckkneipen” because this is where you get in touch with different people and you experience the real Hamburg. Unfortunately, more and more of these traditional spaces are disappearing so we try to make our small contribution to keep them alive. A great one is in Eimsbüttel: they also have delicious food every day until 5am and – in our opinion – the best beer on tap. Familieneck in Altona is also nice. I guess they already made a step from an original „Eckkneipe“ to an urban bar but still it’s a special place.
Where can we find you on a sunny Sunday?
Probably hiking in or around Hamburg. Last year we walked from Hamburg to Lübeck by foot. We feel that longer hiking tours help us to make room for new and inspiring ideas. Its really great to explore all those many nice places around Hamburg. And it’s totally different to arrive in a new city by foot – highly recommended!
>> Check out many other city tips by Hamburg locals here
