So long, (most) location-based services

I admit, I’ve been a big fan of location-based services for a while now. Foursquare was my gateway drug, and that lead to abuse of services like Gowalla, Whrrl, SCVNGR and a few others I’d like to forget about. What did all that LBS use get me? Nothing except Foursquare mayorship of my house and the realization that Facebook Places are going to kill all the other services.

Yeah, I said it. Facebook Places is going to make the rest of the LBS gang irrelevant for two reasons. One, everyone is on Facebook. Literally. Lord Zuckerbeast has consumed nearly all of the Internet-using humans on the planet, especially the ones who care enough about social media to use a location-based service. Unfortunately, the social media nerds aren’t going to keep using services which are frequented by a few of their fellow nerderati when all of their other friends are checking in on Facebook. Maybe a few will, but not enough to keep a company profitable.

The second reason is the forthcoming Facebook Deals. This is a check-in rewards program that is way more useful than offering a mayor special on Foursquare and isn’t as confusing as trying to add checkin offers on top of it. Facebook Deals actually reflects the ways in which businesses want to get more people in their doors. As a bonus, it can be managed through the Places interface, which any social-media savvy business is already familiar with.

In preparation for the death of the location-based services, I’ve quit using all except for Foursquare. OK, I actually quit using them because I’m tired of them. None of them really enhance my social experience unless I tweet my checkin. I don’t need an LBS for that, I have a Twitter client. Facebook Places is socially useful, because my checkins there generate comments and communicate my personality to my friends (yes, I really do go to Pita Jungle and Giant Coffee that much).

Goodbye sign

Image by annamatic3000 on Flickr

Why keep using Foursquare? Because it’s the biggest service and because the game of maintaining a mayorship is still a little bit fun. I anticipate it will die out sometime, but for now I’ll stay on and keep mayorship of my own house, if nothing else.

So goodbye, Whrrl, SCVNGR and the rest. You helped evolve social media, but you’re digital Neanderthals now.

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  • http://clintus.me clintus

    I see your point. But for me the services tell me where my friends are above all else and both Foursquare and Gowalla allow comments and photos now so that adds to the experience. But I’m with you, checking into 3-4 different apps is kind of crappy. This is why I like Gowalla the most. From it I can check into gowalla, foursquare, and Facebook. Also, i can see all 3 services in one view so no matter what people are using I see it. And last, I love trying to unlock the badges and pins. That’s the game part for me. Recently I’ve started collecting all the items in gowalla. I hear there’s some epic pin for having them all in your collection.

    • http://matthewpetro.name Matthew Petro

      The plethora of apps which don’t have a lot to differentiate themselves from their competitors is where I think the problem lies. Checking in with multiple apps sucks and while gameplay is fun, is anyone really going to be hardcore about playing in more than one app?

      Gameplay is good stuff and really is the only thing Gowalla, Foursquare and the rest have that Facebook Places doesn’t. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be enough to support them as Facebook grows Places, Deals and whatever else is next.

  • http://www.phxrailfood.com David Bickford

    What about Yelp? That site tries to tie check-ins to review credibility. In other words, the more times you have checked in a place, the more authoritative your review appears. At least that’s the theory. I have no idea of how Yelp’s check-in business is going.

    • http://matthewpetro.name Matthew Petro

      Yelp is a slightly different beast in terms of location-based services. As you point out, checkins ultimately serve the purpose of enhancing Yelp’s core business of reviews. I can see how as a value-add, checkins make sense for Yelp. But for the standalone LBS services, checkins can’t provide enough value to support them.

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