MOUNT VERNON — If, for whatever reason, you ever thought to yourself, “I’d like to combine a coupon book with trivia-like questions,” look no further.
Like many Knox County residents, I got a flyer in the mail advertising a new app for the area a few weeks ago.
To be honest, getting something other than a bill in the mail these days was a pleasant change of pace.
Funny enough, the flyer was actually a way for me to save some money.
SwayDM is a free-to-download trivia app that allows users to answer questions to earn SwayCash.
Users can then redeem SwayCash for discounts with more than 200 vendors offering deals inside the app.
Alternatively, users can donate their SwayCash to local fundraisers that vendors post.
After using the app on and off for about a week, there are parts I like and parts that are “meh” at best.
The good
The concept is awesome, no doubt about that.
Spending zero money to get the app or to earn SwayCash and turning that into discounts is a win for the user.
Allowing these local businesses to advertise on a platform other than their respective websites or social media accounts is also a plus.
Like many apps nowadays, SwayDM uses a “doom, scroll-like” feature. This is easy to use and works like an Instagram or Facebook feed.
As someone who likes trivia (a lot) and is a newcomer to Knox County, I was hoping the trivia questions would be more Knox history-related and thus educational.
However, the questions are pretty generic and easy to answer, and not really trivia in my opinion. But that just means it’s easier to get SwayCash, so not a knock in my book.
The leaderboard feature is pretty neat, too. If you’re the competitive type and want some extra bragging rights at the dinner table, there you go.
However, the best part of this app is the fundraising ability. GoFundMes can be a little worrisome at times with scams rearing their ugly head at times.
Yet with SwayDM, you don’t have as much anxiety when donating for two reasons.
One, you’d be donating SwayCash and not real money out of your bank account. Don’t worry, SwayDM matches your SwayCash donation with a real money donation.
Two, there is more validity to the fundraiser as it’s coming from a known local business that has registered as a vendor with SwayDM and not potentially a random person like other fundraiser sites like GoFundMe.
Despite the contrary name, SwayDM is only in Knox County and not a corporate app in places across the country, which is pretty cool.
The meh
The biggest thing I’ll be a little critical of is the lack of in-app discounts.
To be fair, the app is fairly new, and I’m sure these kinds of things take time.
However, when you have more than 200 local vendors listed in your app, I figured there’d be a wider variety of discount opportunities for users to spend their SwayCash.
Yet, when you scroll through the vendors, the ones that don’t currently have in-app discounts, there is the following prompt.
“We don’t currently have offers. Ask us about SwayDM offers in store,” the prompt reads.
So, if vendors are offering SwayDM exclusive deals in their stores, there are definitely more pros than cons for this app.
It is good to see some different, more tech-savvy opportunities for folks and the local businesses they support.
Enjoy SwayDM, but don’t get upset when you see me at the top of the leaderboard, racking up some extra SwayCash.