By now I think it’s safe to say that you’ve probably heard of location based services such as FourSquare and Gowalla.
At this point, if you’ve only heard of the services, but not actually used them… I need to share a gut feeling with you.
It’s time to get involved.
It’s time to start actively using one, or both, of the services and know what they have to offer. If you don’t, you’ll soon realize that you’ve fallen behind the curve.
I’m not going to lay out tons of reasons why you should care about the services, but I will give you one using FourSquare as an example.
You’ve probably heard about badges and things of that nature, but I see a big value in the tips feature.
Basically, the service allows businesses and users to provide tips for people that check-in at certain locations. I’ve started to see more and more tips popup, and I think they are very useful.
Why?
Imagine that you’re visiting XYZ location and you check-in with FourSquare. Upon doing so a tip pops up on your phone that says, “Do [insert great tip] while at XYZ.”
You now have an instant travel tip being provided by a local or someone that has already been to the location you just checked-in at. Think of the tips as your personal travel guide.
For example, here’s a tip I added to FourSquare for people that check-in at a certain part of Central Park.
“Make your way down the path behind Sheep’s Meadow towards the West and look for the retro roller skating rink. If the skaters are out you’ll love the show!”
As a person living in a new city I find lots of value in the tips… and think they will be something that continues to grow in popularity.
If you haven’t experimented with a location based service, you need to go ahead and do so. Facebook will be jumping in the game sooner or later, and when that happens… heck, I don’t know what that will do, but it could be a game changer.
