We chose the name Down because it's vernacular that we and a lot of our friends use really commonly. The first thing we think of when we hear the word "down" is that someone's excited to do something. It's possible that we're biased by who we hang out with though. Any ideas for a good name if we were to rebrand?
We kind of think of Down as a light-weight, mobile-optimized Facebook Events.
You can use Down for large, Facebook Events-size events. But you can also use Down to invite a friend to lunch. Or a few friends over to watch a movie. Those aren't really things you'd use Facebook Events for.
Down's also mobile optimized in that you can have a group chat with everyone who's invited. I think it's the fastest, easiest way to invite people to do something.
Did you do any market research - perhaps ask people in the right demographic to write a tweet/text [ie SMS message] as if to invite you to an informal impromptu event and take your inspiration from there.
"Happening"? is all I got right now.
That bit you said about what Down does better - why isn't that on your landing page?
tl;dr sorry I don't really have any ideas what's better - if it resonates well with you then perhaps you're best to stick with it.
To continue the direction trend, Up
'u up 4 avengers?' works just as well in the vernacular as 'u down 4 avengers?' and is 50% as heavy to type (err, 'more optimized for mobile')
Sup would work, Yo's already been taken. Come Hang, Hangouts is already taken...
Unless you understand that particular vernacular this is a question as to why someone is upset/depressed. "Down" carries a lot of negative weight as a word; I'd consider a rename/rebrand. Of course it's perhaps trendy enough in a particular region/segment to overpower the negative association?
I don't see any differentiators in the page from a Facebook event listing; the "See who's down" could probably use some more info?
FWIW on app store page: s/show/shout, s/Beta/beta.