Within the spectrum of social media, the act of sharing essentially amounts to a desire to personally define ourselves to others. In the age of the social network, there are an almost infinite number of options for creating that personal definition on the web. Checking in is just one of the newer ones.
There is an art to checking in and a way to make it part of your online identity. Below, we walk through some of the obstacles and best practices for doing it right. Read on and let us know what tips worked for you in the comments below.
Location, Content, Brand
This all began with location but has shifted to allow users to check in to TV, movies, books and finally to brands. Each of these additional options allows us to personally define ourselves by answering the following questions: Where am I? What am I watching/reading? What am I buying?
While each of these choices from location, to content, to brand allows for an additional layer of sharing, they also each call for an additional level of activity from the user. It’s not enough to visit a restaurant or watch a TV show; we now must announce to the world that we’re doing it.
"If a tree falls in the middle of the woods but no one is around, does it exist?" Or the digital edition: "If you visit your favorite bar at Santacon and never check in on Foursquare, did it ever really happen?"
Simply put, we have fallen into the age of the overshare. There is a happy medium to be found, but we haven't quite hit on it yet.
So, what do these companies think the reward is for users? And what do users think about interacting with these platforms?
Location: Cast of Characters
The San Francisco Chronicle claimed in October that there were 20,000 location-based applications in existence either with location as their core feature or with location weaved in. I’ve identified the four mentioned here simply for the story they tell about the evolution of this space. They also happen to be generally thought of as the leading location-based networking apps.
Loopt launched in 2006 and has approximately 4 million users on its platform. In the beginning, location was about coordinates rather than places. Foursquare and Gowalla both launched at SXSW in March of 2009. With both, the audience could now check in to locations rather than simply a cross street. Foursquare blazed ahead with specials and game dynamics, tapping into our inner need to compete with each other and resulting in its current lead of 5 million users to Gowalla’s hundreds of thousands. Latecomer SCVNGR decided not to focus on checking in at one location or another, but instead, on what we are doing along the way.
In August, Facebook Places launched and shook up the location-based apps scene. It instantly had access to the more than 200 million active users accessing Facebook from a mobile device. At launch, Facebook Places merely allowed users to check in and tag others at the same location. No game dynamics. No specials (although Facebook Deals has since been added). The location wars continue.
Why Are We Checking In?
There are five main reasons people use location-based applications: serendipity, game dynamics, as a personal diary, for sharing experiences and to score deals.
Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare, called the platform: “Technology that facilitates serendipity.” The ability to find friends on the platform and sponsor serendipitous encounters is probably the most obvious reason why people interact with the platform.
Game dynamics fulfills the human desire to play and compete. Game elements that location apps use include mayorships, pins, badges, points, or any other competitive function of the application. Some people think game dynamics lack sustainability. Once I fight for a priority position and win, will I continue to fight for number one? What keeps us playing after we win?
The personal diary function gives us a running history of every location we have visited. On a recent trip to Munich for Oktoberfest, I found that I had forgotten the names of a few bars and beer gardens we visited along the way. Why? 1) It’s Oktoberfest. I was drinking beers in steins the size of my face. 2) Everything was in German. When traveling, location-based apps become an excellent way to record the places we visit along the way.
Sharing experiences, such as leaving tips for friends at your favorite locations, is the best alternative to actually being there with them. It also helps us foster connections with people based on those shared experiences.
Finally, seeking out discounts at our favorite locations is a good motivator, and there is built in convenience since most people always carry their phones. However, location-based services have not yet figured out an easy way to allow a mass audience to tap into the deals on their platforms. Their success moving forward depends on their ability to ease accessibility and make users aware of specials.
Checking Into Content: TV, Movies, Media
On the brand side, checking in involves interacting with the brand in some way, either by scanning a barcode or using a virtual gift card. These platforms are the most recent entrants to the checkin space, so features and use cases are still being figured out.
As with the content checkin, there are similar reasons to why the audience is checking in, including game dynamics and personal cachet. With the latter, it stands to reason, that we will be more likely to check in to certain brands rather than others. The biggest reason why the audience will interact with brands, however, will ultimately be for discounts and deals. Simplifying the pathway to a discount will push these platforms to success. Retailers have used rewards programs for ages, but the days of plastic cards will soon be behind us.
From location to content to brands, our world has become way more checkin heavy. The "why" in all of this returns to the reason we use social media in the first place: to define ourselves. The checking in began with location, but the possibilities will only increase over time as each one us decides what things or actions we want to align with.
How do you use checkin apps?
More Social Media Resources from Mashable:
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- 6 Reasons Why Social Games Are the Next Advertising Frontier
- 3 Things Brands Must Do to Reach Millennials Online
- How Social Media Can Help With Your Long Distance Job Search