Yesterday, Facebook introduced its latest feature – Places. Similar to Foursquare, Places is all about location; it allows users to share where they are with their friends, see who is near them and find new places around them.Â
Unlike Foursquare though, Places is less about gaming (e.g. getting points for checking in at various venues, becoming mayor of a location, etc.) and it brings a new level of engagement to Facebook’s 500 million users vs. the fraction of that number who use Foursquare. For now, though, this first version of Places is only being rolled out in the U.S., and Foursquare updates (as well as a few other services) will be integrated into Facebook Places.
Places can be accessed through Facebook’s most recent iPhone app or via touch.facebook.com on a smart phone. Users can add places or check into places that already exist, check in by themselves or as a group by tagging friends, see which of their friends are in the same area and discover what places are around them.
Facebook posted this beautiful video to show how Places can improve our lives -
For marketers of companies with physical locations, it definitely presents a new engagement opportunity, allowing for targeted interaction with consumers right outside – or inside – their door. For example, companies can send coupons and special offers to consumers who check in at or around a store, restaurant or theater, enticing them to make an immediate purchase.  Once a location has been added to Places, the business owner can claim its location’s page.
From a user standpoint, it will be interesting to see how people – including myself – feel about these added updates that will pop up on the Facebook newsfeed (the check-ins will also show up on the user’s profile and the location’s page).  If you already don’t care about half of what is posted on your newsfeed, you may not be interested in the fact that your friend Joe just checked in at Starbucks in Kansas City. On the flip side, you may find out that your friend Mary, whom you haven’t seen since college, is at a store right down the street from you – prompting a spontaneously delightful reunion.
As always, it will be interesting to see where this latest social networking tool takes us…
Tags: emily towey, Facebook, msi, Places, Social Network
I think Places will initially put a barrier in other competing location service usage (like Foursquare and Gowalla). However, it’s not really the size of places that will breed success but how Facebook uses it. As it stands this moment, there isn’t a whole lot of interaction into places. It has more or less educated Facebook users on geolocation apps that may not have been using them prior.
Foursquare users were having “checkin fatigue” because other than points, there was no engagement. Coupons and specials are a great way to get people involved in checkins since most mobile users prefer using mobile for coupons than checking in. However, I think the location services that will breed the greatest long term success are ones that involve some sort of gaming component to them. Not just accumulating points but participating in tasks and challenges that engage the consumer with a brand (SCVNGR is a good example of this so far).
I completely agree, Drew! I’ll be very interested to see where Facebook takes Places. And thanks for the heads up on SCVNGR – I wasn’t familiar with that one!
Just downloaded it on my iPhone and enjoy it! I believe SCVNGR is SO much better than Foursquare simply because of the game dynamics that they’ve that are part of it. Now they simply need to accumulate their user base because not a single person I know is using it.
I’m guessing that Foursquare will simply add on some of the features that SCVNGR has in order to compete.
I adore it!
Thanks for a lot