The new frontier for social media networks is at our fingertips.  Literally.  More and more cell phone users are switching to smart phones, giving rise to location-based mobile social networking.  While location-based applications have long been available on the shelves of the iTunes App Store, they’ve largely collected dust, lacking the bells and whistles to keep people from “checking-in” on a regular basis.

Loopt leaves much to be desired

Such was the case with Loopt, the seasoned veteran in the battle for smart phone networking app supremacy.  Introduced in 2005, Loopt relies primarily (if not solely) on the attraction of keeping tabs on your friends’ coordinates at any given time.  Later generations of the application, along with similar competitors, have imported information from Yelp or CitySearch in order to present users with a list of dining or drinking options nearby as well.

Foursquare leads the competition

Other applications have introduced new weapons in response to the primitive GPS-based technology of Loopt.  Most prominently, Foursquare challenges its network to collect points at check-ins and earn badges and mayorships, complete with scoreboards and term limits.  Now available in over 100 metropolitan areas, Foursquare is the leader of the pack in location-based mobile networking, as the application synthesizes information from Yelp and enables friends to meet-up or share tips in absentia.  Furthermore, as the size of the network has grown, so too have the number of offers and coupons up for grabs.  Even some forward-thinking bars offer a free drink to the rightful Foursquare mayor of their location.  The rapid check-in and point scoring system does have its shortcomings as well: as successful as Foursquare is in New York City, don’t hold your breath waiting for its arrival in Branson, Missouri.

New challengers offer innovation to the location-based app

Behind Foursquare stand a few guerilla insurgents aiming to displace the reigning king of location-based networks.  Buzzd is aimed at twenty-somethings, as it seeks to provide its network with the bars and clubs that are trending or popular in real-time.  Gowalla brings a populist approach to the application, allowing for users to design tours through Central Park’s main attractions or Texas BBQ pits, thus encouraging more network members to compete for notoriety and respect, rather than points.

A battle between location-based networks lies ahead, but so too do new competitors and innovations to existing networks.  As this competitor only makes applications better, location-based social networks will continue to innovate and incorporate new strategy—representing the future, portable portal to consumers.

When the Iphone first came out over a year ago, it generated more buzz than I have ever seen for a product in history. Now with the second version, the iPhone 3G, all the bugs have been worked out and most importantly, iPhone Applications have taken the world by storm. There is now an iPhone Application for almost every aspect of our daily lives. Every major company and website is working fast to get their iPhone application out. It is the latest form of Internet Marketing. Trulia, a large real estate website launched their application, and within one week they had over 55,000 downloads of their applications. I don’t know of any better free exposure for a company out there today. Some of the applications have a small fee but most of the big ones are free. It is an amazing way to stay in constant communicatin with clients, consumers, and anyone interested in what your business has to offer. Some of the applications are silly things such as drinking a beer or a stupid game, but some are really worth it. I downloaded about 30 of them to test them out.  Facebook is one of the most popular ones and you can pretty much control your entire account from the application. Fring is a great App that lets you connect with all of your instant messengers including Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Skype. The Price is Right even has a full version of its game online. Some other cool ones are Around Me, which shows you all the restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc right where you are located.

Most of these applications utilize the phone’s GPS technology features to pinpoint your exact location. Shazami is a really cool application that you see on TV commercials. It allows you to find out the name of any song your phone hears and where you can buy it. Jot is an App that allows you to talk into the phone and convert your words into a text message so you remember what you were saying. Banks are launching applications so you can access all your accounts online, make stock trades, etc. Soon every company will have one or should have one. There are a lot of companies starting for the specific reason of creating these applications.

Some people are even getting rich designing and selling their applications online. Most of the featured ones are only a few dollars but those dollars can add up fast now that the iPhone has officially taken over the most popular phone title from the Razr, which had that title for the last three years. If you or your company has any interest in creating your own application, I suggest you contact an Internet Marketing Company that specializes in this type of application. It is a new form of marketing that will be essential to the future growth of your business.

-Brandon