The future of location based services is changing everyday with new technologies of new mobile applications and services. For example, the location based check in app Foursquare began in the spring of 2009 at the popular music and technology festival South by Southwest. Since then, Foursquare has seen amazing growth, reaching over 7 million people this year alone and with changing their model to not only check-ins but to having an “explore” tab where users can explore the city they are in for different hot spots.
There isn’t just Foursquare for geolocation though. Many other companies are hopping on the bandwagon of geolocation services. These location based services include:
Bizzy – Bizzy is on the opposite end of Foursquare. Collecting place ratings and reviews when you check-out of a venue.
Use Groupon? Well now there is another way to use it! Groupon founder Andrew Mason had his own idea for geolocation and how to make it successful. He ran with his idea and made a mobile version and named it Groupon Now. He backed up his idea by sticking with the Groupon model of deals in your area but offering users two different options “I’m hungry” or “I’m bored”. Each option, combined with the user’s current location, returns special offers nearby. For more information on Groupon Now, check out the Mashable article.
With this said, there are some pretty exciting things happening in social media and geolocation right now. The question is are you an early adopter of these social media spaces or do you not participate in these spaces? Either way, why? What are your reasons for participating and what are your reasons for not participating? Also, there’s got to be more that developers can do with location based services. What do you think they could improve on or add?
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Please comment in the section below and I will respond as soon as possible.
Until next time — Stay Bizzy!
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