Tech Blog

[#1]

This week I started using Gowalla -- a check-in application/game for mobile devices similar to Foursquare, which means nothing if you've not used FourSquare either...so let me explain.

Gowalla and Foursquare are both mobile applications that let you 'check in' to locations using a virtual in/out board.

As you move around your city, province, or country and as you enter and leave locations in the real world, you can whip out your mobile device and register your visit or 'check in' there, if the establishment exists within the game. If not, you have the option to add the location to the game world.

Pretty simple. Go someplace. Check in. Go someplace else. Check in.

Is that it?
If this was all there were to these two applications, the game would be pretty boring. Yes, there's more.

First off, both leverage social media. Initially you're prompted to send invites to your friends so that they can participate in the 'game' too. As you check in, you can let your friends and followers on in the apps, and on Facebook and Twitter know your current location. Great for when you're wanting to have an impromptu meetup with your friends. Bad if you've got a stalker.

Achievements
Both Foursquare and Gowalla let you collect 'achievements'. In Foursquare they're badges; in Gowalla they're stamps. Check in to special locations and you'll get an achievement. Check in a lot, and in Foursquare you could become the 'Mayor' of that location.

Foursquare badges are more 'collectable' because they're created by the developers and tend to be focused on specific events or locations -- for example the Jobs badge that you get for visiting an Apple store 3 times.

Gowalla also has special stamps for special events, but that's not all. Anyone can create a Gowalla location and generate stamps -- here's one I made for the University of Alberta Biological Sciences building, for example. Though special stamps must be made by the developers and assigned to particular locations.

In Gowalla you also pack around items, drop them for others to find and pick up. Kind of like a concept in Geocaching called 'travel bugs' where you leave an item at a location, someone picks it up, registers that they've got it, and moves it to a new location. The fun is in tracking the movement of the Travel Bug. Items are like virtual Travel Bugs.

Items are also needed to create a new location (one that's not in the game yet). Drop an item at a new location and you become the location's Founder. Yes, I dropped an item at Bio Sci. Pick it up and move it on

Overall both are kinda fun games, especially when you engage your friends in some of the sharing activities.

The Dark Side
But every silver lining has a dark cloud. Of course, by regularly using these apps you're giving away your location to your friends, family, and the companies running the apps.  Yes, both have settings you can use to adjust the level of detail you're sharing, but part of the value of these applications is to share -- so I'm thinking most folk just use the defaults.

It's really a fine personal line -- do you care that in 3 years you can go back into your online location history and see where you were, and when? What about a lawyer with a subpeona?
Things to think about as we bring invite these cool new technologies to share our lives.

[#2]

Nothing about this sort of social media application appeals to me. I don't like the privacy concerns, and I don't need an internet toys/meaningless badges time-waster.

[#3]

Yeah, there certainly are concerns, and there are some benefits. Mayors of certain venues in Foursquare get discounts or free food/drinks. I believe Gowalla has similar benefits -- but each must weigh the benefit/privacy tradeoff on their own, as you've done