Former 6ABC Reporter Launches App You and Your Friends Will Love

Social Media continues to explode, and people are using it in all sorts of ways.

Personally, I'm amazed at the people who are always asking for recommendations on platforms like Facebook. I've seen people in Facebook groups ask for restaurant recommendations and handyman recommendations, but also things like heart surgeon recommendations and house of worship recommendations!

I mean you're going to trust strangers in a Facebook group to suggest where you should go to get major surgery - or "pathways to the afterlife recommendations"?

You're asking people you never met - and, you're throwing personal information about yourself out there for all to see.

In addition to that, how do you know these people you're asking about restaurant recommendations even life the same kind of food or "food experience" that you do? Maybe you like the finer things in life while the people answering you thing McDonald's and Burger King is a "special night out." (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Well, enter Ali Gorman. You may remember her as the long time medical and health reporter for 6abc in Philadelphia. She was a popular reporter on the station from 2008 - late 2021. Gorman left the TV station to launch a new APP that you can use to share recommendations among your own circle of friends.

The App is called TruFaves and, according to Gorman, "The best recommendations come from people you know and trust. TruFaves makes it quicker, easier, and more private to swap the information." She says, "The recommendations can range from looking for a great restaurant all the way to more serious such as needing a find a surgeon for a medical problem."

With TruFaves you are sharing recommendations from your own "life circle" - it's people you know well and trust. The TruFaves website says it's "recommendations from your most trusted sources."

Gorman says the idea came about when she was visiting friends in New York City:

"We all went to dinner and were doing what women often do-- swap recommendations. One friend was raving about a new fitness class, another was talking about a book she had just read. I was asking for restaurant recommendations for a city I was planning on visiting soon. Another was asking if anyone had a good online nutritionist.

"The next morning as we were leaving we were all trying to write out all the things we had mentioned the night before. Inevitably, many of the details got lost. It got us thinking about how often we turn to friends when we need a recommendation we can rely on but we needed a better way to save and share the information."

It was from that experience that Gorman launched the idea for TruFaves. " It started as a side project that I had been working on for several years. Before I even set out to find developers, I researched the idea, the competition, what's missing and how to validate this idea. We did a round of surveys and a beta test with a few hundred people."

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Eventually, she left the TV life to work on launching the APP: "I was burned out and ready for something new, the startup/app started demanding more of my attention as it went into build-mode. I needed more flexible hours for family reasons. I am a single mom to a now three-year-old and I knew he needed me home more than I could be while working traditional news hours."

So far, so good for the new APP. Gorman says the APP has been downloaded 500 times and counting. "To start, people are building their profiles which means creating their faves. These are the products, places and services they love. They are also sending invitations to friends to also download the app and join their circle so they can start asking for recommendations.

"Unlike other platforms, TruFaves is all about getting recommendations from your most trusted sources meaning people you know and trust in real life. And no one is getting a kick back for adding a fave and there are no fake reviews."

The TruFaves APP is now available for both iPhone and Android users.

As for Gorman, she's has this recommendation for those who find themselves in similar situations - with a great idea they believe in: "Life is short; chase your dreams. As crazy as it is to launch a startup, I also think it's crazy to not pursue something you feel passionate about and can see the benefits for other people."

You can find out more about the TruFaves APP by clicking here.