Hughes blog post: Timehop – letting me relive my social media brilliance

About 18 months ago, I signed up to a little service called Timehop. First available as an email service and now available as an iPhone app, Timehop allows you to travel back in time – reliving your online life!

Timehop – originally called 4SquareAnd7YearsAgo – allows you to look back on this day one year ago on social media. But it doesn’t just stop there – it gives you two years ago, three years ago… even “on this day” six years ago! It shows your Tweets, your Facebook posts, your Foursquare check-ins, Instagram posts and Flickr uploads from this day in social media history.

I find it absolutely fascinating. I relive funny links, interesting posts, personal thoughts and fantastic photos. Interestingly, Timehop makes me want to use social media more. In particular, I have been prompted to use Foursquare much more thanks to my Timehop experience, and I love adding photos to my Foursquare check-ins.

When I signed up to Timehop my Instagram use had also fallen by the wayside a bit. I was encouraged to use Instagram a bit more thanks to Timehop and many months later, it’s now my favourite and go-to social media network.

I’d love to see Timehop link in with other social “apps” like Nike+ or RunKeeper (this day in your fitness history!), and blogging platforms like Tumblr or WordPress. YouTube might be fun too – what were you watching on this day one year ago?

The downside? You need a Facebook account in order to sign up. If you’re a die-hard Twitter / Instagram / Flickr user but you don’t have a Facebook account, then Timehop doesn’t accommodate you. If you’re an iPhone user, give Timehop a try and be entertained by your past social media self. It’s like a time capsule for the digital age!

- Kate Potter