Checking In: Location Services for Libraries

As always in real estate, everything in technology these days seems to be about location, location, location. From Google's recent addition of a “nearby” location limit to its suite of search options to the spate of location-based mobile apps and social networks, physical proximity has become the linchpin of a trend to connect technology to the real world. It's a trend that goes hand-in-hand with the death of the truism that nobody cares if you're a dog on the Internet—Facebook's emphasis on identity brought a new emphasis on reality to the web, one that has combined with the boom in mobile web access to become the catalyst for tools like Foursquare, Google Buzz, and Gowalla.

Though Foursquare brought location-based social networks to the attention of mainstream media, tools like Loopt, the now-defunct Dodgeball, and Brightkite innovated the mobile social networking space several years ago. Loopt, which began in 2005, functioned primarily as a location broadcasting tool—a person's location was automatically captured using compatible cell phones' GPS capabilities and posted on Loopt.com. There, users could check the application to see where their friends were and potentially meet up. Google Latitude, which overlays real-time location data onto Google Maps, functions similarly.

Brightkite, founded in 2007, took a slightly different slant. Sacrificing automatic location updates (which are necessarily restricted by phone capabilities) for universality, Brightkite used the concept of “check-ins,” a system where users actively set their location. Check-ins are then broadcast, either to all Brightkite users or to a select group, depending on the user's privacy controls. Brightkite also connects with Twitter and Facebook, allowing for non-Brightkiting friends to track location, and serves as a photo-sharing tool.

Check-ins like Brightkite's are now the predominant feature of the most popular location-based social networks, with an added twist. Foursquare and Gowalla, in particular, have morphed mobile social networking from a tool primarily designed to connect friends in real space into a game. Now, check-ins offer a competitive edge. Both Gowalla and Foursquare feature collectable “badges” based on check-in patterns, while Foursquare pits users against one another to become “mayor” of locations with the most updates from a particular place. The gaming and competitive aspects of these services have spurred location-based social networking from a niche set of users to more mainstream audiences.

Foursquare, which looks to dominate the location-based social networking space for the near future, has been embraced by businesses, from local pubs to major universities to news agencies, and it's easy to see why. Within Foursquare's playful atmosphere lies major potential for location-based, context-sensitive marketing and education. For example, Harvard University has partnered with Foursquare to develop a game encouraging students to explore the university, rewarding them with special badges and points as they discover new places. Some retailers give coupons to people checking in at their stores, and many businesses are already offering special deals and rewards for customers who become mayor.

One of Foursquare's strengths is the tips. Users can leave short messages about a location such as a recommendation for a particular dish at a restaurant, information about a current special, or any other information they think is worthy of sharing. Other Foursquare users in the vicinity can see the tips left behind, a great way to find out information about a new city or just to learn more about frequented haunts.

Foursquare developed native applications for many mobile devices, including the iPhone, BlackBerrys with trackballs or touchscreens, Android devices, and the Palm Pre and Pixi. It also has a mobile site for other types of web-enabled devices. People without web-enabled cell phones can still participate in Foursquare by using SMS to update location status—simply text check-ins to 50500 using the @ symbol before your location to help Foursquare identify it.

To get started using Foursquare, download one of the mobile apps to a compatible cell phone. Each mobile app has a slightly different look and feel, depending on platform, but each enables the core features of Foursquare: check-ins, badges, and tips. When setting up an account, you can pull in contact info from Facebook and Twitter, automatically establishing your social network.

Once you've installed a Foursquare app or accessed the mobile web site (m.foursquare.com), you can start checking in. Depending on the city you live in and the number of Foursquare users in your vicinity, you may see a lot of potential places to check in or you may see none at all. If your location doesn't show up or can't be found in the search tool, you can add it. You can choose to broadcast your location to your Foursquare friends (it will show up on their time lines) or broadcast it to Twitter and/or Facebook, though note that your Twitter and Facebook networks may not appreciate seeing your frequent check-ins dominate their streams.

If you decide not to share your locale with your Foursquare friends, you can still check in “off the grid”—racking up points from visiting a location without communicating where you are.

Foursquare is reminiscent of Twitter in terms of sheer possibility. When Twitter first launched, it was mocked as merely a time-wasting tool for the self-aggrandizing. Now that Twitter has matured and evolved, Twitter devotees are using the service for dozens of creative operations beyond merely giving status updates. It's a news portal, an answer engine, an innovative outlet, a conversation, and more. Foursquare is similarly positioned—a platform that can connect technology with reality in any number of ways, limited only by imagination.

As Foursquare's prominence has grown, several innovative libraries have begun exploring the possibilities Foursquare offers. Libraries like the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, and the Darien Library, CT, have been giving prizes (mugs, totebags, etc.) to Foursquare mayors. Many libraries have also been leaving tips at their locations for patrons to discover new services and resources. For example, Darien posted tips about finding tax forms, its rock'n'roll music collection, and the heated cork floors in the Toddlers' Room. Though libraries are only beginning their initial forays into Foursquare, it may prove to be another way to market libraries and to educate patrons. Since patrons can leave their own comments and tips, including negative or unsavory ones, it's another way to keep an ear out for what's good and what's bad about the library from a patron perspective.

Librarians have also embraced Foursquare, as evidenced in part by the plethora of Foursquare check-ins populating librarians' Twitter and Facebook streams. Though Foursquare allows for less professional communication than Twitter and less in-depth communication than Facebook, Foursquare and other location-based social networks are particularly useful at conferences and meetings, easily facilitating impromptu gatherings and spreading information about the places to be. Twitter, which has traction as a conference back channel, can be overwhelming at large conferences in comparison. Both Facebook and Twitter, sensing the location trend, have introduced their own location-sharing capabilities that libraries may wish to investigate.

As location-based social networks gain followers, concerns about privacy and security are rightly at the forefront of many people's minds. Though Twitter and Facebook have long been decried as potential security nightmares, especially for people who publicly broadcast their vacation plans, location-based social networks are raising even more eyebrows. Are we oversharing? Sites like PleaseRobMe, which aggregates public updates to Twitter streams from Foursquare, point to the whelming undercurrent of unease about location sharing.

Automatically updating, GPS-based social networks like Google Latitude and Loopt are perhaps the biggest violators of privacy. Though users have to automate location sharing explicitly (and in both systems, may choose only to update location manually), it's quite foreseeable that someone could be inadvertently sharing information they'd rather not have public. Location-based social networks may not achieve widespread success simply owing to the privacy factor—sharing where you are is just more unnerving than sharing what you are doing. The gaming aspects of Foursquare and Gowalla may help negate this perception, but many people will choose to remain off the grid.

Privacy became an especially hot issue for location-based social networks when Google released Google Buzz, its Gmail-based social networking tool. Google Buzz's main privacy issues revolve around its connections with Gmail contact lists, the mandatory use of the Google Profile for Buzz users, and its location-based sharing. Location-sharing is on by default in Buzz, which is great for finding out what's going on in your neighborhood but is viewed as intrusive by many. The Buzz overlay on mobile versions of Google Maps highlights recent Buzz by people nearby.

As librarians and libraries explore uses for Foursquare and other location-based tools, it's necessary to consider the privacy and security implications for patrons. Though playing a game through Foursquare could be a great way to introduce patrons to the library, exploring the physical library through QR codes linked to tips and resources might be a more comfortable technology–real space connection for many (see bit.ly/QRcodeCCCL for one example).