I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about Location Based Social Networks (LBSNs) such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and Loopt. With a growing user-base (Foursquare just passed the 2 million mark) we all want to know who’s using these services, how often they’re using them, what they’re using them for, how our clients can get involved, and if they should. Large chains such as Starbucks and Chili’s restaurant have already partnered with LBSNs to test promotions… so far, with mixed results.
Check out this article from AdAge about some of the challenges and pitfalls these early adopters have faced.
A recent report by Forrester provides a little perspective on the subject of LBSNs, finding that less than 5% of U.S. online users have ever used a location-based application on a mobile device. Interesting to note that these users are typically young (~70% between the ages of 19 and 35), male (~80%), well-educated, and influential. Read more on Forrester’s own
blog and on
gigaom.com
