Do we care where people are? Mar 31st '10

The current ‘buzz word’ on the web is Geolocation. Services such as Foursquare and Gowalla are springing up which allow people to ‘check in’ to the services, informing the service where they are as well as the persons friends. Do people care enough to start using these every day or is this just another invasion of privacy?

Some background

Geolocation on the web has been around for many years however only recently has it been used as a social tool. Typically geolocation is used for security or to improve the usability of websites. For example, BBC iPlayer uses geolocation to detect where a user is and to ensure that they are from the UK before showing the video. This protects the BBC’s rights over the programmes and ensures the license payers get to see the content they have paid for.

Benefits

There are of course benefits as a user to know where friends are however I am going to focus on the use of these services in business. Using these services, venues, such as pubs, restaurants and clubs, will be able to see who is currently in the venue, who has been in the past few days and who is a frequent visitor. This information is priceless to a venue. Plus offering benefits to people who come to the venue, such as discounts on drinks, will attract more people to the venue.

Concerns

Privacy is a huge concern for near enough every new service which swings open its doors and welcomes users in with open arms. Location based services are no exception. Letting people know where you are on a daily basis can come across as feeling a bit ’stalkerish’. I use these services and these comments have been mentioned to me on numerous occasions and I can see the concerns. These services can’t be automatic, they must be manual, which could be an issue in itself. Many times I have tried to check in and I have had to add the venue manually, this adds time and hassle which I would rather not have. This will of course get better over time as more venues are added to the service.

The future?

Personally, I feel that Facebook will own this space on the web. There are already rumours that Facebook will be bringing location to its current service. If/when this happens, Facebook will have a big leg up on the competition and if done right, could really enhance its current offering. Just imagine being able to meet up with friends spontaneously as you were alerted that a few of them were in the nearby area all automatically and within Facebook itself?

Geolocation on the social web is still young, it remains to be seen if we will be using location aware services on a daily basis, however I think its only a matter of time.

Do you use any location services, such as Foursquare or Gowalla? If so why, and where do you see location aware services being in the future?

Written by Oliver Culverhouse

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