Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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1. Quick Help

I forgot my password

I can’t download the Whrrl application on my BlackBerry

How do I change my notification settings?

How do I display the way my name is displayed?

How can I easily invite my friends to Whrrl?

How do I move a place that is in the wrong location?

SMS is checking me into the wrong location

How can I create a place outside the US?

2. General

What is Whrrl?

What else can I do with Whrrl?

Can I use Whrrl in my city?

How do I change my city?

What is the Whrrld Feed and how is it different from the feed on other social network sites?

What do the icons on the map mean?

How do I use the map filter?

Can I try out Whrrl before registering?

How do I protect my privacy?

3. Mobile

How can I use Whrrl on my mobile phone?

How do I become mobile-enabled?

How do I get the mobile application?

Which mobile phones are supported?

How do I use SMS text messaging with Whrrl?

4. Getting together with friends

How do I schedule a time to meet with friends?

5. Events

What are events in Whrrl?

6. Places

How do I look for places?

I can’t find the place I’m looking for. Now what?

How do I share my location with friends?

Can I get directions?

I am a business owner. How do I update the information about my business in Whrrl?

7. People

How do I find people to add to my network?

What does it mean to be a “fan” of someone?

8. Miscellaneous

How much will it cost to use Whrrl?

I am having problems with Whrrl or have found incorrect or missing information. What should I do?

Who created Whrrl?

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1. Quick Help

I forgot my password

Web

The easiest way to reset a password is to visit our website at www.whrrl.com and select the “forgot password” link below the sign-in area. You then have two choices:

1. If you signed up with your e-mail address, enter the address and a password reset link will be sent to you via email.
2. If you signed up with your phone number, enter the phone number and a confirmation code will be sent to you to enter on the website. Once the confirmation code is entered, it will prompt you to reset your password. Hint: choose a password that is easy to enter on your mobile phone.

Mobile

1. If you have not confirmed your mobile account with your temporary password, the mobile site will prompt you to do so.
2. If you have already confirmed your mobile account with your temporary password and chosen a permanent password, use your PC (not your mobile phone) and go to the www.whrrl.com website and follow the “forgotten password” link.

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I can’t download the application on my BlackBerry

Point your BlackBerry browser to www.whrrl.com. If your phone is compatible with the Whrrl service, the application will prompt you to begin the download. Once you sign up, you will be sent a temporary password via text message to verify the account. If your phone is not compatible, a “phone not supported” message will appear.

Please be aware, if you have a corporate (enterprise) BlackBerry account, your company’s IT Policy may block application downloads.

You must have a data plan on your BlackBerry in order to use the Whrrl service.

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How do I change my notification settings?

You can change your notification settings in two ways: on the web or by sending SMS commands.

Web

To change your notifications on our website, go to the account settings link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. On the “notifications” tab you can set preferences for how many and what kind of notifications you receive.

SMS

To increase the amount of SMS Notifications you receive send the “up” command to 94775. This modifies your SMS notifications settings so you receive more types of messages. At the highest notification setting, you’ll see reviews and all other notes posted by your friends.

To decrease the amount of SMS Notifications you receive send the “down” command to 94775. This modifies your SMS notifications settings so you receive fewer types of messages. At the lowest notification setting, you’ll only see messages sent specifically to you.

Send the “stop” command to 94775 to disable all notifications.

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How do I change the way my name is displayed?

If you don’t wish your last name to appear on your profile, go to account settings in the upper right hand corner of the screen and click on the privacy tab. Here you can specify your name display preference. The choices are: full name, first name and last initial or just first name.

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How can I easily invite my friends?

To start, go to the Friends tab. On the lower left-hand side, you’ll see the option to import friends from Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL. Choose one of these e-mail providers and enter the username and password for the appropriate account in the fields provided. Whrrl will search your contacts and show you all of your friends who already have accounts on Whrrl. You will have the option to send friend requests to any or all of them. Then you will have the option to send invitations to your friends who are not on Whrrl.

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How do I move a place that’s in the wrong location?

Users have the ability to move a place themselves by choosing move map marker below the place’s address. This will unlock the blue map marker and you can drag it to the correct spot on the map. When you have it where you want, click Save.

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SMS checks me into the wrong location

Our system keeps track of the last location you shared and sets that as your current city location. If you’ve never checked in anywhere, your location is the Whrrl City you chose during sign up.

If you are searching for a place that is not in the city of the last place you shared, use the search terms “in/near/by” to point the search toward another location. For example, “search coffee in Portland” will search for coffee places in the Portland area. You can also use zip codes to do a more exact search.

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How can I create a place outside the US?

At present, users are not able to add sites outside the US on Whrrl. Whrrl is planning international expansion in the future.

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2. General

What is Whrrl?

Whrrl is a location-based social utility that helps you answer questions like, “Where should we go for dinner tonight?” or, “What fun stuff can I do around here?”, whether you are in your home town or traveling. Whrrl organizes everything you and your friends know about people, places, and events and puts that information at your fingertips. You can use Whrrl on a Web browser, via SMS, or as an application on your mobile phone.

Okay, so how do I figure out where to go for dinner tonight?

Once you connect up with a few friends in Whrrl, you’ll notice that places they have visited, reviewed or expressed an interest in will “light up” on the map. These interesting places are indicated by icons that have a “social charge”, giving you an at-a-glance summary. You can then filter the map based on the places your friends like by choosing from “highly rated by” in the filter. If you have a few friends who you trust the most for restaurant recommendations, you can create a custom list of people and view the map through their eyes by selecting them from the according to drop down menu in the filter. The map now reflects only the places that have been “touched” by those friends.

But what if I don’t have any friends in Whrrl yet?

First off, invite some! Whrrl is all about tapping into your friends’ knowledge about the real world and sharing your experiences, interests and opinions with them.

But let’s just say for the moment that you don’t have any friends in Whrrl yet. Try this: find a couple of places you love. While you are contributing your own reviews for those places, look at others who have reviewed them and then become a fan of these folks whose tastes are similar to your own. Now places they’ve been to or rated will display on your map. You’ll also be able to filter based on the reviews of people you became a fan of, just like you would friends.

You’ll also notice that there’s a special group of people in the according to drop down menu in the filter called Top Whrrlers. When you select this group, you’ll see the opinions and interests of Whrrl’s most active contributors across all of Whrrl’s supported metro areas. Imagine how fun this all becomes when you actually start to connect with your real friends!

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What else can I do with Whrrl?

Whrrl allows you to communicate easily and share adventures with your friends in real-time, coordinate impromptu get-togethers, share opinions on cuisine and local hotspots and keep your busy social life organized!

For example, what if you want to pull some friends together for happy hour this afternoon? Send out an invitation or find an event and click the I want to go button. Or maybe you notice that one or two of your friends recently checked in nearby, so you post to say “hey, we’re within a block of each other — let’s grab a coffee!” All this activity is tracked in your feed and on your calendar so your friends stay updated in real-time.

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Can I use Whrrl in my city?

Absolutely! The Whrrl map has places throughout the United States including Hawaii and Alaska. We’ve gathered detailed information about places and events in the metro areas of Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. Whrrl works in other cities too, but we may not have detailed information like business hours or cuisine type. We’re constantly working on adding information in new cities, so if you don’t live in one of the areas listed above, yours may be coming soon!

Note: As we recently announced, Whrrl is planning international expansion in the future. At the moment, users are not able to add sites outside the US on Whrrl. E-mail us at feedbac@whrrl.com with the city you would like us to add and we will contact you when this feature is available.

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How do I change my city?

If you are traveling and want to explore places in another city, go to the home tab and click “change location” in the blue box at the top. Also, if you share your location with friends while you are in another city (via SMS or the mobile app), Whrrl will set your location to that city.

If you move and want to permanently change your metro area, simply go to the me tab and choose the blue “edit profile” link. Use the “whrrl city” drop-down box to select your new city. See can I use Whrrl in my city? above to see if we have deep content in your new city.

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What is the Whrrld Feed and how is it different from the feed on other Social Network sites?

The Whrrld Feed is the stream of activity and communication among everyone in your network. When people you are connected to edit their profiles, post reviews, make new friends, say “I’m here”, post notes, add photos, or create an invitation - your Whrrld Feed updates and displays it all. The Whrrld feed shows activity as it happens, so you can stay up-to-date with what your friends are doing in Whrrl. You can filter your Whrrld Feed to see just those things that you care about, or see it all so you don’t miss a thing. And when you write a review, post a note, upload pictures, or create an invitation at a particular place these will show up in your friend’s feed.

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What do the icons on the map mean?

Each icon on the map corresponds to a place in the real world. The icons change according to the opinions and activities of the people defined by the group in your “according to” menu. When there are many places in an area, they are rolled up into a single icon.

	You: The red arrow indicates your current location. Your location is only visible to you and to friends you have added to your People Who Can See My Location list. Your location will change when you check in to a place, or change your city on the profile page
	Friend: People whose locations you are permitted to see appear on the map whenever they share their location with you. If the person entered his/her location manually, the icon will automatically disappear after 5 hours - the icon appears full at the beginning and almost empty before it disappears. You will not be able to see anyone’s location unless you are explicitly added to their list of people who can see it.
	Positive: A positive point appears on the map when the ratings from the people in your current “according to” group are consistently high.
	Negative: A negative point appears when the ratings in your current “according to” group are consistently low.
	Been to: This icon indicates you have either checked in to a place or added it to your “been to” list.
	Want to go: This icon indicates you are interested in visiting this location or seeing this event.
	Untouched: An untouched point is one which nobody in your current “according to” group has interacted with. (If you have feelings one way or the other about such a place, by all means, be the first to touch it! Your friends will thank you.)
	City/Neighborhood: When there are too many points to show individually, they will be rolled up into a single, large icon representing a city or neighborhood. Click on the rollup icon and a side menu will pop up with a list of all the places represented.

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How do I use the map filter?

The filter feature on the right-hand side of your map is a powerful tool that allows you to easily narrow down search results and weed out locations and/or events not relevant to you. For example, if you want to throw out everything that is not within a mile, choose “Distance” from the show only menu and choose to only view places within 1 mile. If you only want to see places with a Happy Hour between 5-7pm, choose “Happy Hour” from the menu and select 5-7pm. The map reconfigures to show only places that meet your criteria.

Another way to filter is by using the according to menu which allows you to choose whose eyes you want to see the world through. Your choices are: just you, your entire network, custom lists, or Top Whrrlers (a group of the most active Whrrl users from each of our launch cities). Whichever group you choose affects which reviews you see and how the map displays. You can also create different groups of friends and filter by these groups. For example, let’s say you have friends who are all Music Lovers. Create a group called Music Lovers and add friends to this group. Then choose Music Lovers from the drop down list. Now you see only what the Music Lovers have rated.

You can also filter based on the opinions and activities of people in your network. Maybe your friend Julie really knows the club scene in Chicago, you can decide to throw out places she does not rate highly by choosing “Rated Highly By”. Or if you are only looking for restaurants certain people visited, choose “Visited By” from the show only menu.

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Can I try out Whrrl before registering?

We allow users to try the Whrrl experience before registering. You can search, view detail pages, and view profile pages without creating an account. To create a profile, invite friends and share the places you go and the things you do with your friends, you’ll need to sign up for a Whrrl account.

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How do I protect my privacy?

Your privacy is very important to us, and we are very focused on making your experience safe and secure. You always have control over who sees your information on Whrrl, and we treat real-time sharing of your location in a special way.

First, you can edit your privacy preferences by going to account settings in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Under the privacy tab, you can choose who is allowed to see your profile, and who is allowed to see your date of birth. By default, your profile will be visible to everyone in Whrrl, and your birth date will be visible only to you. You may limit or expand either of these privacy settings if you wish.

Second, you are required to choose explicitly which of your friends can see your location. This means only those people in the list “People Who Can See My Location” can see your shared locations on Whrrl in real-time. After some time has elapsed, places you have touched will become visible, but people who are not currently in your “People Who Can See My Location” list will not be able to see when you were there. Third, any time you post a note, upload photos, review a place, or create an invitation, you can control who is able to see it. For each action, a drop down menu allows you to select your audience. You can choose to let everyone in Whrrl see it, let only your friends see it, or let only specific friends see it.

Please click here for a complete overview of our Privacy Policy .

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3. Mobile

How can I use Whrrl on my mobile phone?

Whrrl has been built from the ground up as an integrated mobile and Web experience. Whrrl is very much about your real-world experiences, and when you are out in the real world you almost always have your mobile phone with you.

You can download Whrrl to any supported phone. If you use SMS text messaging or want to have a lightweight Whrrl experience on your phone, you can use SMS commands to interact with Whrrl. We are constantly adding more phones to the supported-phone list, so even if your phone is not supported now, it may very well be in the near future.

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How do I become mobile-enabled?

To become SMS-enabled you must associate a mobile phone number with your Whrrl account and confirm it. You can go to account settings to add your phone number if you didn’t provide it during account sign up. Once you enter your phone number, a confirmation code will be sent to your phone via SMS. Type this code on the website to confirm your mobile number. Once confirmed, you are mobile-enabled and can use the Whrrl mobile application on a supported phone or through SMS text messaging.

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How do I get the mobile application?

To get the full Whrrl experience on your phone, point your mobile Web browser to m.whrrl.com. If your phone is supported, you will get a link so you can download and install Whrrl. Once it has downloaded, you can sign in with your confirmed email and Whrrl password.

Hint: see if you can easily type in your Whrrl password on your phone. You can easily change your password on the Web by going to account settings.

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Which mobile phones are supported?

You can use Whrrl via SMS on any phone that supports text messaging. Whrrl’s full-featured downloadable application is available on the following phones:

Blackberry Pearl

Blackberry Curve

Nokia N95

Nokia N95 8GB

Nokia 5300 on T-Mobile

Nokia 6085 on AT&T

Samsung A920 on Sprint

Samsung M510 on Sprint

Samsung M520 on Sprint

Samsung SPH-M610 on Sprint

We are working on adding support for many more phones.

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How do I use SMS text messaging with Whrrl?

Whether you are a Whrrl mobile application user or not, you may utilize SMS text messaging to interact with Whrrl at any time. Below are the SMS commands and shortcode to use Whrrl via SMS text messaging. No command will return more than 2 SMS messages.

Send your SMS commands to WHRRL (94775).

What can I do using Whrrl SMS?	SMS Command	Example Note: Some commands require an added term or “argument”. These commands are illustrated in brackets.	Description
Search	search, or s	search [keywords] and optionally, [at/in/near/by] [location] search coffee s coffee in Seattle s starbucks near 4th and pine	Does a search within Whrrl. Default search location is your last checkin, or your Whrrl city (if you haven’t checked in anywhere) unless a location is specified. Reply with a number to see more details of that result.
Read your feed	feed, or f	feed	Returns the most recent notes in your feed. Reply with a number to see more details of that result.
Update your Whrrl status	status, or st	status [message] status dancing st having a blast!	Updates your personal status message on Whrrl.
Send a message out to all your friends	shout, or say	shout [message] shout new Thai place is now open! say you guys have got to see the new Bond movie!	Send a message out to all your friends.
View places you tagged “want to go”	wtg	wtg	Shows a list of places you’ve marked “want to go” just as though they were search results. You can then select one by replying with its number.
Tell friends you are at a location	at, or @	@ [place name] and optionally, [in/near/by] [location] at Cafe Ladro @ Cafe Ladro near 1st and union	Tells friends on your People Who Can See My Location list you have arrived at a location. If the search for the place is ambiguous, multiple results will be returned and you can reply with the number that matches your search. If you’ve just viewed a search result, just reply ‘@’ to check in at that place.
Tell friends you have left a location	!@	!@	Tells friends you have left a location.
Post a note to a place	post, or p	post [message] post cute bartender now working p movie is sold out!	Posts a note for your friends to see to the last place you viewed from the search results.
Review a place	review, or rate, or r	review [rating 1-5 stars] and optionally, [message] review 5 I love this place! rate 2 my food was cold r 4 perfect martini!	Adds a rating or review for your friends to see to the last place you viewed from the search results.
Connect to a friend	invite, or inv	invite [mobile number]	Invites a friend to join your network.
See a list of friends	friends, or fr	friends	Shows a list of your friends.
Accept a friendship request or invitation	accept	accept	Accepts a friendship request or invitation.
Tentatively accept an invitation	maybe	maybe	Tentatively accepts an invitation.
Decline a friendship request or invitation	decline	decline	Declines a friendship request or invitation.
Prevent user from seeing your location	hide	hide [mobile number]	Hides your location from a specified user.
Allow a user to see your location	show	show[mobile number]	Allows a user to see your location.
Increase the amount of SMS Notifications you receive	up	up	Modifies your SMS notifications settings so you receive more types of messages. At the highest notification setting, you’ll see reviews and all other notes posted by your friends.
Decrease the amount of SMS Notifications you receive	down	down	Modifies your SMS notifications settings so you receive less types of messages. At the lowest notification setting, you’ll only see messages sent specifically to you.
Stop SMS notifications	stop	stop	Changes your notification settings to disable SMS notifications. You can still use other SMS commands. You can also go to your notification settings page to adjust your settings.
Start SMS notifications	start	start	Starts SMS notification again after you have stopped them. notifications. You can also go to your notification settings page to adjust your settings.
See a menu of text commands	menu	menu	Display detailed help with the syntax of the common Whrrl SMS commands.
Get SMS help	help	help [SMS command] help rate help search	Shows standard mobile carrier SMS help information and command help. Also provides detailed help with a specific command, for example getting its description or detailed syntax.
Clear SMS conversations with Whrrl	reset	reset	Resets your SMS session. Use this if you are getting unexpected results. Note: this will not clear your status.

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4. Places

How do I look for places?

Web Browser

In your web browser, enter a neighborhood, full address, city, state or zip code into the search box at the top of the page and select “go”. A list of all the places near that location will appear on the right-hand side of the screen. You can then enter keywords or filter your results using the show only drop-down menu on the what’s on my map box.

Mobile Application

Using the mobile application, select search from the Home screen. In the search box type in what you are looking for by name or keyword. If you are not sure what you’re looking for, you can always submit a blank search — Whrrl will use distance from your current location, touches by people in your network and other elements to provide a ranked list of places and events that are relevant to you.

You can also simply browse the map and look for interesting locations based on the icons displayed on the map. Places that have been rated or touched by people in your network appear differently than places they haven’t.

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I can’t find the place I’m looking for. Now what?

Feel free to add it yourself via the ‘add a place’ link at the bottom of the what’s on my map? box on the right- side of the page. Enter all the information into the fields and select create place now. To avoid duplicates, Whrrl will do a search to make sure we don’t already have that place.

Currently we do not support adding private locations like “My House” because we do not have the ability to mark those locations as private. This means everyone on Whrrl could find your house by browsing the map or by doing a search. We hope to be able to offer this feature in the future.If you discover we have a place in the wrong geographical location, you can move it yourself. Just go to the detail page of a location and choose “move map marker” below the address, which will unlock the place marker so you can drag it to the correct location. Once moved, choose to save the new location.

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How do I share my location with friends?

Note: only people you have included on your “People Who Can See My Location” list (see Privacy) will be able to see your location in their Whrrld Feeds, notifications and on their map in real-time. To update this list of people, go to the me drop-down menu and select “my lists”. From here you will be able to view all your lists in Whrrl and add or remove friends from these lists.

Web Browser

From the home page of Whrrl the large blue box displays where you are if you have checked in somewhere, or asks you where you are if you are not currently checked in. From any place detail page, you can also use the I’m here button and it will immediately tell friends your location.

Mobile Application

From the home screen select “find a place to check in” to share your location. You can also tell your friends where you are by going to a place detail page and choosing I’m here.

SMS

You can also use SMS text messaging to let friends know where you are.

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Can I get directions?

Not yet, but you can easily see where a place is located on the map.

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I am a business owner. How do I update the information about my business in Whrrl?

If you are a business owner and discover missing or incorrect factual information about your business in Whrrl, please let us know. You can use the feedback link in the upper right-hand corner of the site, or you can email us at feedback@whrrl.com. Please provide your contact information and as much detail as possible. Be sure to mention that you are the business owner.

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5. Getting together with friends

How do I schedule a time to meet with friends?

Web BrowserIt’s easy! Discover a place you’d like to go by using the search in Whrrl. Go to the full detail page of the place and click on the invite friends button on the left hand side of your screen. You can specify a date and time, add a note and/or photos, and select who you want to invite.

Mobile

Using the mobile application, choose a place on the map and choose invite friends. You can specify a date and time, and enter custom text for the invite. To manage invitation information, click on calendar on the top menu or Home screen. Here you can track events you have scheduled, accepted, or been invited to. Responses to your invitations will also appear in your Whrrld Feed.

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6. Events

What are Events in Whrrl?

Whrrl has your local movie showings, musical performances, and other forms of entertainment along with the millions of places to go in your city. Just like with places, you’ll be able to use the powerful social discovery capabilities of Whrrl to discover events of interest to you. Search for events by entering the event name or venue into the search box. In addition to your specific event, Whrrl will also show you events happening in and around the same geographical location. Once you find an event, you can mark the I want to go button to let your friends know you are interested in attending. You’ll also see a list of interested friends.

Can I add my own event?

At this time users are not able to add their own events. This feature is coming soon!

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7. People

How do I find people to add to my network?

Grow your network by finding people who are already on Whrrl and inviting them to be your friend, or inviting other friends to join you on Whrrl.Web Browser

To send an e-mail invitation to friends, select the friends drop-down menu and choose “invite friends”. You can also import your contacts from an AOL, Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail address book.

You can also search for current Whrrl members by clicking on friends and choosing “search for people”. You can search for people by name, and filter your results by relationship, gender and Whrrl city. When you do find people you want to be friends with, simply go to their profile page and click on the send friend request button. The friend request recipient will reply to this request and you can both start expanding your networks!

Mobile Application

On the mobile application, go to the Home screen and choose the ‘friends’ icon. Enter the email or mobile number of your friend and we will send them an invite.

SMS

You can also invite a friend using SMS by texting “invite [mobile number]” to 94775 and we will send an invitation to your friend to join Whrrl.

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What does it mean to be a “fan” of someone?

In Whrrl, a person can become a fan of any other Whrrl user. Becoming a fan does not enable any additional sharing of information; it is simply a way for one user to keep abreast of the publicly visible activities of another user. If Jane is a fan of Mike, Mike’s publicly visible Whrrl activities will appear in Jane’s Whrrld Feed.

To become a fan of another person, simply visit that person’s profile page and click on the become a fan button. You may see all the people you are a fan of on your friends page and you may also stop being a fan of anyone from that page. You cannot see a list of the people who are your fans, though you can see how many fans you have at any moment.

When you send someone a friend request, you will become a fan of that person until they accept.

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8. Miscellaneous

How much will it cost me to use Whrrl?

Whrrl is FREE to use on the Web and on your mobile phone. As usual, the data or text messaging plans you have selected with your wireless carrier determine whether you will pay any additional usage fees and, if so, how much they are.

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I am having problems with Whrrl or have found incorrect or missing information. What should I do?

First off, thank you for your help in making Whrrl the best experience it can possibly be. Now, if you having a problem or you discover missing or incorrect factual information on Whrrl, please send us feedback. You can use the feedback link in the upper right-hand corner of the site, or you can email us at feedback@whrrl.com. Please provide as much detail as possible, and we’ll take it from there.

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Who created Whrrl?

Whrrl is the product of Pelago, an early-stage startup in Seattle, WA. We are always looking for exceptionally talented, customer-focused innovators to join our team. Pelago’s culture is one of continuous optimization and collaboration. We’re incredibly proud of the team we’ve assembled to date, and together we’re pushing the boundaries in every facet of our business to develop truly creative consumer-facing products. If you want to join us, check out our jobs page or email us at jobs@pelago.com.

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