Where Are You?

If you are technologically curious, you’ve likely heard folks talking about the location-based social networks Gowalla and Foursquare. Both utilize GPS and those fancy smartphones to allow you to “check in” to places you visit, tell folks where you are, and post your thoughts along the way.

Location is truly all the rage in social media right now, so if this is all news to you, let’s get you up to speed with a quick overview of these two popular and very similar applications. Choose your favorite, or play both!

Gowalla
TechCrunch.com defines Gowalla as a “location-based social network that uses game mechanics as a motivator to go places, do things, and meet friends. Players use a GPS-enabled smartphone to check in at places of interest and share their location.”
Each time you check in somewhere — a coffee shop, restaurant, store, etc. — you are rewarded for your visit with a variety virtual stamps and pins. (These are my favorite things about Gowalla!) As you travel to other states, historic landmarks, etc., you get some really cool looking virtual icons in your virtual passport. I did a lot of traveling last year, so I’m particularly proud my dozen or so state stamps!

Another cool feature of Gowalla is that you can submit your own “trips” that you recommend for other folks to take. For instance, my hubby Dave’s trip on Gowalla is called the “Nashville Honkytonk Stomp,” which offers his suggestions for a night out at the downtown honkytonks — Tootsie’s, Robert’s Western Wear, The Stage, etc. Once folks complete your “trip,” their names show up on the completed list. Think about it – how cool would it be to visit another city or country and have an evening’s worth of suggestions for things to do right in your phone?

If I’ve piqued your interest, get started at gowalla.com, then download the application for your iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry, or Palm.

Foursquare
Foursquare is another location-based social network that, very much like Gowalla, incorporates gaming elements, rewards, and check ins. What sets it apart is that when you check in, Fourquare not only tells your Foursquare friends where you are, but it also recommends nearby places to go and things to do. It even shows drink and food specials.

Perhaps the most entertaining Foursquare feature is becoming “mayor” of your favorite location. For instance, I’m currently mayor of my apartment building, a coffee shop in Jacksonville, Fla., and a bar in Washington D.C. I’ll eventually lose office when someone else checks in more times than I have at any of these three places.

As a side note, I’m a huge fan of the smart businesses out there that offer specials and discounts for their mayors-of-the-moment. It’s a great incentive to keep folks coming back to battle it out for whatever freebie the business ponies up.

To start your Foursquare adventures, go to foursquare.com, sign up for your free account, and then — just like Gowalla — download the application for your iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry, or Palm.

Both Gowalla and Foursquare give you the option to share your check ins and travels via Facebook and Twitter. I don’t do this, but you may want to. How much info you share and who your “friends” are is all yours to control. For these location-based networks — unlike Twitter, which is designed for stranger-to-stranger info sharing — I only friend my actual friends, but I’m sort of protective like that ... with who knows my whereabouts at any given time.

Like most technological wonders, what the Gowalla and Foursquare creators conceived now makes up only a fraction of what they actually do. Just think about Twitter as geeks knew it in 2007 compared to Twitter as the world knows it today. What started out as an odd text messaging service known to a few thousand people is now a global, real-time, information-sharing phenomenon. Who knew?!

What’s next for these location-based apps is anyone’s guess. Yelp and Twitter are giving location a go, and rumor has it Facebook will soon announce its own location-based application. What I do know is these apps are fun, often instructional, and are a great way to share your favorite hotspots with friends. If you want to get on board, sign up, check in, and shout out. I’ll see you there!