The Official Blurb:
Moonlighting lets you buy and sell goods, hire and get hired for jobs, and explore new money-making opportunities all on your smartphone, anytime, anywhere.
Simply post an opportunity or search for jobs in 3 clicks or less. Moonlighting enables you to activate your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts as well as your contact book to set up and undertake jobs, all in real-time.
Download the app and start Moonlighting today! Because there’s opportunity, everywhere.
Our Take
This seems like a pretty cool app, and they’re making a lot of headway in an already-crowded, quick hire app space (good job, Moonlighting PR people!). You post stuff, you name your price, and you hope that someone sees your posting and will do what you want them to, for the price that you named. While it seems a little “been there, done that” with platforms like Fiverr, Moonlighting is a little bit different when you scratch below the surface. With this app, you get to post anything you want (the presenter gave the example of posting a request for a ride back to Charlottesville after the Tech Meetup in DC).
What We Love
First and foremost, their name is pretty cool. It tells you exactly what they do if you think about it a little bit (plus it was a TV show once upon a time).
Again, any platform that gives me an opportunity to either make money on the fly or get some sort of service for relatively cheap (or at the very least, for the amount of money that I want to pay) gets a gold star. And I love the versatility of this app. It’s not just about tech goodies or cleaning out your basement and selling stuff, which is what some of their competitors like Fiverr, OfferUp, or Craigslist are about. It seems with Moonlighting, I can post anything I want and hope someone takes the bait.
Their presentation was also on point; their demo worked seamlessly and they were able to give a real-life example of how it might work for you with the ride-sharing example (which is becoming increasingly important in cities like DC, as Metro seems to be on a downward spiral). Their presenter was also kind of funny – requesting the ride back to Charlottesville for just $10 – and feigning surprise when her counterpart accepted the job. The same goes for their publicity efforts – search for Moonlighting App on any internet search engine and the results are impressive.
I also want to point out that Moonlighting was the only presenter that I can remember telling us where to download their app (call to action, anyone?). Good job.
What We Don’t Love
Something that kept crossing my mind while listening to their presentation was the fact that someone really can post anything (insert inappropriate joke here). But in reality, in might not be a joke once people start using the app for evil instead of good. Apparently I wasn’t the only one with the concern, because someone asked that very question during the Q&A session, and Moonlighting’s answer wasn’t too impressive. The presenter stated that it’s true that their content is user-generated, but with companies like Facebook and Instagram starting a major crackdown effort on illegal, user-generated content, Moonlighting should sit up and take notice. It’s coming and I hope they’re prepared.
Which brings me to the second point of safety and preparation in the event that something does happen as a result of a Moonlighting job. Let’s say that I do want to use Moonlighting for a ride, just as the example was given to me during the presentation. What if there’s some sort of crazy person behind the wheel? Are there safety controls in place within Moonlight to help me track the person down, or help the police identify the ‘perp (I’ve been watching a lot of CSI lately)? Although I do realize that common sense is necessary, I hope they’re taking note of Craigslist (check out this article) and general internet safety rules. I would hate to see all of their awesome publicity get marred by some common-sense lacking, lawsuit-happy user.
Links-A-Lot
Wanna Moonlight? Find them here:
The official Moonlighting website
Like them on Facebook
Follow them on Twitter