// The Hunt


My friend Brittany over at The Hunt told me about this new site and asked if I'd be interested in giving in a whirl for myself. One of my favorite things to do is test out live websites and interact on them to test user flow and usability, but I sort of got hooked on this site because it reminds me so much of another one I used to frequent back in the day. Do we have any LiveJournal users on here? Raise your hand! (I mean, duh. There's literally thousands of you, I'm sure!) I was (and still am) a total die-hard LJ user/fan and one of my all-time favorite communities on there was called MadRadStalkers. Okay, so the name might sound a little sketchy, but the basic premise was that any member could post a photo or pose a question to the group asking where a certain item came from or who a person was in the photo. The members weren't actual stalkers, but many of them had a keen eye and a instinctive talent for just what to Google. Members would then leave comments on the entries and link them to the appropriate shop/profile/recipe/whatever. This was before you could Google Image Search and all that jazz, so I was a regular. I loved posting and hunting items down for people. It was a sad day on the interwebs when MRS started to slow down. Then one day it was just kind of dead. MRS helped me find specific clothing items that I stumbled across in photos, or ones that people were too snobby to link to (You know the type... you love something they have so you inquire only to be met with a cold shoulder or "I don't remember..." UGH! Yeah, okay!) Well, The Hunt is basically the 20teens version of MRS. I love that their tagline is "The Cure for Outfit Envy" haha! No longer are you at the mercy of the "Mean Girl" who doesn't want you to have the same thing she has.

The web is still overrun with uncredited images and you can't log onto Pinterest or Tumblr without being met with a barrage of things you totally covet, but can't seem to locate online. One thing The Hunt has going for it that MRS didn't is a sense of public accessibility. MRS was great, but you had to an LJ user, then you had to join the MRS community. MRS definitely had a niche demographic. The Hunt seems (to me, at least) to be really accessible. It also has the added perk of being visually driven in it's design. MRS was set up like a community blog and each submission was it's own post. The Hunt allows you to quickly glance over the open Hunts and follow any that you're interested in. 

Another awesome feature? You can choose whether you want to find "This Exactly," "Similar To This," "This Look For Less," or "What Goes With This." So you don't to limit yourself to finding the one thing you can link to - You can ask the members of The Hunt to help you with your inspiration! It doesn't stop with just clothing items though. You can request help with home decor, recipes, jewelry, tutorials, etc. There are over 400,000 members on the site, spanning the globe from the US, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. You've basically got nearly a half million Sherlock Holmes at your fingertips.

I played around with The Hunt for a little while and followed a few Hunts that I was specifically interested it (it's seriously as easy as hitting "Follow" - then you get updates when someone submits a Find. You can also see all of your followed Hunts on the Following panel! A few Hunts I decided to follow: this quirky tee, crystal bullet necklaces, this hilarious french fry headboard [yes!], and this delicious chocolate oreo mousse parfait!). I also submitted my own Hunt! A gorgeous pair of patterned loafers (Update: They're from Anthropologie)! Below I'm going to walk you through the Submission process just so you can see how simple it is. You can upload an image directly from your computer, link a URL, upload from a Pinterest board, Tumblr, or Instagram. They make it super easy to get your Hunt started. Here's how I started my own Hunt!
It's an insanely simple process to start your own Hunt. And it's even more rewarding when you're able to track down something someone else is eager to find. Kind of like a "paying it forward" thing, ya know? It can be challenging, but it's all about helping others find what they're looking for so when you start a Hunt, others will be likely to lend you a hand as well.

To be perfectly honest, my favorite part about The Hunt is to lurk the "Showcase" page where the Top Finds are posted. Basically it's a treasure trove of awesome things with links directly to the shop source! The Showcase page even gives you a heads up on the price so you'll know what your wallet is looking at before clicking. If you're ever in need of a snazzy gift idea, just prowl the Showcase page. It's like Pinterest but better because there are actual, credible sources for everything.

If you want to Hunt on the go, there's even an iPhone app! It's totally FREE to download, just CLICK HERE! You can feel like a detective on the prowl or snap a photo of something on the go for your fellow Hunters to track down. I can totally see myself using this site like crazy. My heart has missed MadRadStalkers, and I'm led to believe this is the bigger, better version of it!

PS; How weird is the word "Hunt"?!?! I've read/said/written it so many times over the span of this post I'm sitting here thinking "Who on Earth put those letters together to make this strange, strange word?!" Ha! Words are weird.

12 comments:

  1. Haha Hunt is my surname so that last bit made me laugh!! This site sounds really interesting and awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. That seems amazingly useful. Pinterest is full of this exact problem! I remember seeing someone in a mint sweater with clouds on that I have pinned and I spent about an hour trying to hunt it down to where I could buy it. Unfortunately sold out all along so I never did get it! Sounds a lot of fun just spying on what people want.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lol words are AWESOME! :p
    You brought my attention to it and now all i can think of are rhyming words :x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my god this takes me back to MRS! As our founding friendship is from the LJ days (tinyrockets?!) I think this is a great idea, shall be checking it out for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is definitely going on my Bookmarks bar to look at soon!! Sounds so much fun and super easy to use to!
    xx

    mysmallrayofsunshine.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just spent way too much time on there solving hunts for people! It's addictive! Thanks for sharing the site

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG, this is the site I have been waiting for all my life! Yay thanks for sharing! Definitely going to try it out now!

    -Rebecca
    http://mn2nz.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Finally! I've been looking for a bird dress that I saw forever ago. It's probably gone by now, but I really hope someone would be able to tell me where I could possibly buy it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh god, I Was addicted to mrs back in the day... I think that may have been how I found your LJ! This is going to be a problem for me. Also I am in the middle of studying for my linguistics midterm so your last sentence about the word "hunt" had me giggling.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh god, I Was addicted to mrs back in the day... I think that may have been how I found your LJ! This is going to be a problem for me. Also I am in the middle of studying for my linguistics midterm so your last sentence about the word "hunt" had me giggling.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cooooool!! This sounds awesome. I love the idea.

    PS: I was totally an LJ user and wish I remembered my log in so I could go back and read my old entries. I also was a member of every 'Mad Rad' community out there. Mad Rad Hair was my favourite I think, back in my emo days...ooooh LJ!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh my gosh, yesss! I still love LJ! I met so many awesome people through having journals on there throughout my middle and high school years.

    ReplyDelete

HEY! Thanks for dropping by. xo KB