The other night we took my son out to celebrate his birthday, and as we were finishing up I took out my phone and checked in on Foursquare. I was promptly mocked by my husband & kids (I’m used to this, I think it’s with love…)
Most people don’t want to tell the world where they are at any given moment. I use Foursquare sparingly myself. It’s fun and it’s actually useful at times. I imagine if I had a busier social life it would be handy to know who was where on a Friday night. I used it in Austin during the SXSW conference and it helped me track down my friends as they roamed from party to bar.
But what’s this all about really? It’s about marketing, baby. Foursquare lets businesses offer discounts through the app, and that’s why Facebook has just jumped into the location-based game with Places. It’s not just about helping you figure out where your friends are, its about having data available for advertisers. In just the last day since Places was enabled I’ve seen friends check in to Dunkin Donuts, a car repair shop, the orthodontist, the gym… Hello Opportunity to Sell Stuff! You’ll use your $1 off coupon and buy lots of other stuff just because you’re so grateful for the little gift. Right? You know it’s true! Well, it’s true for me, anyway. I admit it.
But here’s the thing: Places is enabled by default. You may not check in anywhere, but your friends can check you in (by tagging you), without prior consent, unless you disable that function. So go read this and adjust your settings accordingly. I know a lot of people who don’t like having their image tagged in photos on Facebook, I’m sure they’d be less than thrilled if friends start tagging them in Places.
I’ve set mine to disallow tagging by others, and my check ins will only appear to a specific subset (list) of my Facebook friends. Facebook hasn’t made clear how advertisers will take advantage of this yet, but it’s coming. I’ll probably use Places now and then, and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing- I just like to go in with my eyes open.
on Google+!
