The Wonder of Tech: Get fun with GetGlue

Summertime beckons, the season for blockbuster movies, beach reads and amusing TV shows.

Think of GetGlue as Foursquare for entertainment.

Whether you're watching a movie or TV show, reading a book or checking out a new song, check into GetGlue to see how many others have checked in, read their comments, and leave comments of your own. It's like watching with a group of friends or joining a book club from the comfort of your home.

You sign up for GetGlue with either your email address or your Facebook account from their website or an app on your mobile device. Pick a user name (choose wisely as this can't be changed) and upload a profile picture – or use the one from your Facebook account.

Checking In

GetGlue covers a wide range of entertainment. You can check in for movies, TV shows, sporting events, books, magazines, movies, podcasts, video games, board games, or whatever else might be entertaining you at the moment.

Your check-ins are public by default, meaning the world can see what you're reading, viewing, etc. If you want to keep your check-ins private, go to getglue.com/settings/preferences and set your preferences to Private so you can control who sees them. If you keep your check-ins private you can still see others' public check-ins.

Recommendations

A helpful feature of GetGlue is that it connects people who have similar tastes. Go to the Who To Follow page to get recommendations of people who like the same types of entertainment that you do.

If you connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts you can follow your friends and see their check-ins on GetGlue.

GetGlue also makes recommendations of books, movies, TV shows and other entertainment you might like and tells you why it made the recommendations. These recommendations are a fun and easy way to discover new entertainment tailored to your tastes.

Thinking of seeing Madagascar 3 but first want to know what others think? Check out GetGlue to see how many people checked in and read their comments. See what friends and people you follow said about the film to know whether it's worth seeing.

Rewards

Another feature of GetGlue is earning rewards. You earn stickers by checking in to TV shows, movies and other categories. GetGlue offers Limited Event stickers for special episodes of TV shows and for special events, such as the Super Bowl, opening day of a movie or the premier of a new television series. You can also earn Season Fan and Super Fan stickers for your favorite TV shows.

If virtual stickers aren't enough, physical stickers can be sent to you by mail. For free. That's right, no postage or handling charges at all. The only restriction is that they will only send you a maximum of 20 stickers at a time – which is the most that can be sent with a first-class stamp.

GetGlue often partners with entertainment companies for discounts and prizes. For example, GetGlue and Showtime recently offered free DVDs to GetGlue fans of Showtime series, such as Dexter, The Borgias and Nurse Jackie.

Trending Topics

Want to see what's hot right now? Check out Trending Topics, which shows the events, movies, music, etc., that have the most check-ins. You can view check-ins for each category and see how many people checked in for each event.

Apps

GetGlue apps are available free for:

Video

This video from GetGlue shows you how it works:

Bottom Line

Whether you want to see what's hot, share an experience, get cool stickers or get recommendations, check out GetGlue.

Carolyn Nicander Mohr is a Chester County resident and the creator of a website, the Wonder of Tech. Contact her at wonderoftech@gmail.com.