Been thinking a lot recently about location-based services. There’s a slew of options – Gowalla, Foursquare, Facebook Places - plus tons of other websites now have a built in geo component (like Yelp, for example).
I’ve stayed clear of all of them. Namely because I’m creeped out by them. There’s a spectrum of openess on the web, and I certainly contribute, but I am uncomfortable with publishing my whereabouts in realtime. True, I could check-in as I’m leaving, however there is something to be said for quality of presence. I pride myself on truly being with the people I am with (even if that person is just me), as opposed to hungrily scouring to see if anyone else you know is in the vicinity. If I serendipitously bump into a friend, cool. If not, that’s cool too.
Not only am I a wee bit creeped out, I’m also not convinced of how useful checking in is. Retail seems to get that games are good, but rewards are better. However I want to feel confident that the return on giving out private realtime details about my location is actually worth it. The minor discount or free coffee I could potentially receive just won’t cut it for me. Others may disagree and love that cheap latte, but I’d rather pay full price for my caffeinated beverage price and not clue in any of my “Twitter friends” – because let’s face it – I don’t know the vast majority of those lovely people.
The other thing I’m wrestling with: how can businesses get into the mix? Finding the value in this type of service in the enterprise (outside of the retail, food, beverage and entertainment industries) is really a challenge. Perhaps if your outside sales team is on calls? I suppose it could provide accountability for unsupervised, traveling employees. Even that is a stretch. Contests and giveaways could also make use of geo check-ins, but I can’t see my dentist getting onboard and giving away free root canals.
Granted, I hate and I don’t participate.
Good read on why Foursquare and all the other services face impending doom by Jay Dolan here.
I have mixed feelings about the crazy stories that result from Facebook (mis)communications. I simultaneously love hearing them and also cringe at the naievete.
