Seattle company wants to get you out of a social rut

Somewhere in the world, every 10 seconds someone receives a Facebook request to join Mafia Wars, Farmville or some other social network game that will keep them attached to their computers. Whrrl 3 launched today with a promise to “save you from Farmville” and lure you away from virtual worlds.

The iPhone application comes from Pelago, a Seattle-based company that started in 2006 with venture money from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and other local investors.

CEO Jeff Holden says there’s a really simple idea behind the ap. “People are inspired by the things other people do,” Holden says. “Through Whrrl, I recently learned of an amazing mountain biking park close to my home in Seattle, and seeing my friends’ adventures there made me crave the experience for myself.”

Whrrl 3 allows users to enter information about where they’ve been, cool things they’ve done. People who share interests exchange recommendations.

Foodies, for example, can exchange restaurant information – which dishes to try, who has slow service, pictures of fabulous desserts. You can also check in and share your location with friends, similar to what Foursquare does. When you check in, you learn little facts about the location and gain points. Several merchants are on board to provide exclusive offers for Whrrl 3 users.

In addition to getting you out of your social media rut, Whrrl hopes it will free people from their real ruts too of saying “Where do you wanna go tonight?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?”

Yes, it’s a bit ironic that the way Whrrl gets you away from virtual worlds is through an iPhone ap…but it’s free.