We know that use of social networks on mobile platforms is on the rise. We know that SXSW attendees flipped for location-based social networks Gowalla and Foursquare this year. But does that really mean that location-aware networks meant for use on mobile platforms are the wave of the future?
In the lead stories from today’s SmartBrief on Social Media, Kunur Patel and Chris Dannen make compelling cases for why these location-based networks aren’t as revolutionary as they seem. Patel argues that when every Web service under the sun is making plans for some kind of mobile functionality with location-based features, stand-alone location-aware networks just aren’t as cool. And Dannen argues that for all the technorati excitement over these shiny news toys, “these services have inherently limited appeal.”
So which is it? Is location the best thing since sliced bread? Is location better when paired with the functionality of another network? Will it ever have mainstream appeal? Does it need to?
Image credit, Stephen VanHorn, via Shutterstock
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I think the novelty will wear off on the location based stuff. Do I really need to know where you are all the time? Who cares? Unless they can find a way to make these anything more than fun or smart spam, they will still be spam.
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3 things:
1: Location, Location, Location in a social context is not necessarily in terms of geographic. Right now, location based services are largely influenced by the traditional way of looking at "where you are".
E.g. I am right now at my office, so I share my "location" with everyone who are also at an office. But none of the social services tab into that yet.
2: Like what we see on Twitter and Facebook, nobody cares what you have for breakfast. We are going to se the same with location services. Location only matters if it provides value and context.
3: Location based advertising mainly misses the point. The reason why Foursquare is popular, is not because of location, but because you can *communicate* with and trough that location. Advertising that is only about location is like Foursquare without communication.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by braincat: Is social media really all about location, location, location? http://tinyurl.com/ygfdpdo...
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According to Google, 1 and 3 searches from a mobile device have local intent. Do I feel tservices like Foursquare and Gowalla are a bit overhyped right now, yes. But, I also feel they will settle into a nice place to where an advertiser and user can coexist and mutually derive benefit from one another. This historically hasn't always been the case, so it will be a beautiful thing. Those are my thoughts for what they are worth!
Cheers,
Erik Qualman
Author of Socialnomics
The first three rules for a successful restaurant are location, location, and again location! So the next step is to incorporate location social media monitoring tools like FohBuzz which measure conversation by brand, by region and by single location. These tools were created specifically for restaurant chains and even single unit restaurants. FohBoh is restaurant social media and a pioneer and thought leader in this space.
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