Posts Tagged ‘Check.In’

Checking-In?

// August 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // Social Media

I have a confession… I am such the geek. I will try every new technology, join every new site, and try every new web 2.0 service just to stay on top of what’s new. When location based Social Networking took off I immediately jumped on the big three players in the game: Foursquare, Brightkite, and Gowalla. These three services are accessible through a combination of their websites and smart phone applications (apps); You take them with you on the go. Here is my version of a cheat sheet so you know the basics about each of the three:


Brightkite was one of the first big players in this space and has a LOT of social features (most you will not use). Unfortunately Brightkite did not incorporate a game-style interface like Foursquare or Gowalla did so it didn’t have a mechanism in place to attract users to keep up with their check-ins.

Foursquare is the clear winner in the social/location space. It’s strong suit is that it encourages check-ins with a game-like interface. In addition there are easy ways for real-world businesses to tie into Foursquare through contests and promotions. The downside to Foursquare is that there are ways to cheat the service and check-in to places when you are not actually there. This had led to HIGHLY contentious Mayorships (the highest possible Foursquare achievement) among users.


Gowalla is one of the new kids on the block and my personal favorite. Gowalla is a lot like Foursquare with a similar game interface, the difference is that Gowalla tries to make it harder to cheat the system. You have to be in close physical proximity to a location to actually check-in. I like Gowalla a lot, it’s badges and awards are simply more fun. The iPhone version of the app is also the best of the three. Unfortunately because it is new there are not a lot of users there yet.





That’s the down and dirty about the big three services, but what do you do if you are like me and use all three? The good folks ate Brightkite have responded to the lagging popularity of their app and launched a multiple check-in service, Check.In

You can use this web application to check-in to the big three and more all at the same time, a huge time saver. My only gripe is that it is a web only app and a bit sluggish. Hopefully there will be phone native apps in the future that will make checking-in a zippier process. The next time you are out give it a try and let me know what you think.