Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
My City, Your City
how well do you know your neighborhood?
1
published on
 
thoughts on tech with
 
My first check-in was over two years ago. At the height of my usage, I wasnumber 15 in all of New York City. It was a fun little adrenalin game. Today, Icheck-in because I’d like to remember anestablishment or because I’d like tofind my friends at conferences or any major group gatherings. I personallybelieve that location based services can influence a neighborhood’s economicdevelopment and growth.On the user’s end, I wonder if location based services truly changes behavior byencouraging users to be more social and curious about their surroundings. Doyou explore your neighborhood more or other neighborhoods in your City sincethe availability of Location Based Service? Are you a more confident travelerbecause you know when you check-in you’ll probably find someone familiar at aconference? Or is location based passe?
What Is Location-Based Service?
Location Based Service or LBS is an information source provided through theuse of the mobile network and a smartphone to pinpoint a user’s location andtheir activity within that vicinity. It can be used in a variety of ways. We’ve seenit primarily as a channel of entertainment. The use case is expanding to real-time promotions from national brands and local neighborhood establishments,healthcare, real-estate, research and more!LBS opens a new medium for marketers to promote to prospective customers.This type of promotion is spurred by users through sharing of information withina specific geographic location and in real-time. For example, while walking downthe street in Soho, New York City I received a push notification from my favoritecafe in the area, Ground Support - $1 off on yummy peanut butter jellysandwiches and a cup of freshly brewed cappuccino. Yum! I am likely to makethat quick stop before a work meeting, a shopping spree, an appointment at thesalon or meeting friends for a drink. After checking-in at the cafe, I would benotified by my LBS service that a friend is nearby, so I should probably let himor her know of this cool deal from Ground Support. After all, sharing is caring.The unique combination of social media, LBS and mobile technologies openedportals to what New York VC,Fred Wilsoncalls “the earned economy.” We earnrewards based on actions of promoting or engaging with a brand, a charity, anevent, a venue, travel, auction, vacation planning ~ almost everything andanything.
2
 
The Check-In Society
With the use of LBS, people have an opportunity to discover places that friendslike without having to ask them for recommendations. The information is readilyavailable thanks to their check-ins! With LBS you no longer have to wait forfriends to hang out -- you can just roll on our own, choose a highly rated venuebased on check-ins and perhaps meet new like minded people. Spontaneity alsobecomes more accessible with LBS. You can invite yourself to friends’ gatheringat a nearby bar two blocks from where you may be standing in the West Village.LBS apps likeFoursquareandGowalla, offer their users recognition in the form of badges, titles and a freebies from selected sponsored locations. The mostpopular location base app,Foursquareboasts of approximately 4M users.In March, a number of stories circulated that the startup’s growth trajectoryhasslowed down.Are users bored?MeanwhileFacebook Placesis an optional utility in the social media giant’smobile app dashboard. New York based startup,The Hotlistis a social LBSaggregator that curates its information from Facebook Places, Twitter andGoogle. It is a service that offer users with rich data including who among yourfriends are going to an event next week, who went to thatboring event lastweek, boyand girl ratios for each venue and event if you are in the market for a partner ornot so you knowwhich events not to bring your partner to (ha!). Italso gives youinsight on which venues will be packed and truly crazy or whichones will be good for group conversation or a date. I thought The Hotlist as aservice is so cool, I recently joined them asCommunity Outreach Director.
3
Search
Search History:
Searching...
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
  • p.
    • Notes
    Load more