Atmosfy, an app for discovering new dining and nightlife experiences, has launched a new feature, “Local Favorites,” to highlight top-rated businesses and venues in users’ local areas, the company announced on Medium. 

The feature combines community engagement data with users’ friend networks to provide personalized, context-driven recommendations.

Local Favorites surfaces places and experiences that have gained positive traction and repeat visits from Atmosfy’s community. It goes further by integrating social proof – showing users which friends have visited each highlighted locale.

“Now you’ll be able to see the standout places the community can’t get enough along with which of your friends have actually been there on every video,” Atmosfy CEO Michael Ebel posted on LinkedIn.

“The ethos behind Local Favorites is simple yet powerful: combine the collective engagement of the Atmosfy community with your personal friend circle,” the company’s announcement said. “This dual-layered approach does more than just list popular places; it provides a rich, context-driven recommendation system.”

By fusing community data with friend connections, Local Favorites aims to add a personal element to the local business discovery process. Users can easily see which hot spots are preferred by their social circles in addition to being community favorites. 

The new feature represents an innovative way for users to explore their cities through highly-rated local businesses and venues, from trendy coffee shops for remote work to intimate date night restaurants and popular parks for weekend picnics.

“Combining our community’s engagement with your personal friend circle provides more reasons to love a place, and makes the decision to visit even easier,” Ebel wrote. 

“It’s about staying up to date with the trending local experiences and rediscovering your city through the eyes of your community and friends,” Atmosfy stated regarding Local Favorites’ mission.

The launch highlights the platform’s commitment to supporting local businesses by exposing them to its user base through personalized recommendations. Local Favorites is now live in the latest version of the Atmosfy app.