Location Based Social Networking

Following the development and recent release of Google Latitude, I figure it might be a good time to delve into the realm of location specific apps and tools. This is already a big topic, but getter bigger by the day.

One of the main cornerstones upon which social networks are built are status updates..."what are you doing?", " is _" and so on. Geo-specific networks take this a step further and also let your network see where you are posting from.

My network of choice is [drumroll] Brightkite!

Brightkite is a location based microblogging network. Imagine geo-twitter. I know, I know...Twitter allows you to set the longitude and latitude of your location. But does that really mean anything to you? Maybe if your followers are cartographers, but have you ever taken the time to search those coordinates from someone you follow?

Brightkite offers an array of features that make it useful for varying purposes. First, it saves you time and space. Rather than tweeting "I am at the corner bistro" let your device of choice do the work for you, not to mention help save those precious characters for more detailed posts. After Brightkite recognizes your location, you have options as to what you wish to publish from that location. Do you just want to let your network know where you're at? Simply 'Check-In'. You can also post a 140 character message or post a photo along with a message. Decisions, decisions...

So what is the biggest concern with publishing your exact whereabouts? Privacy and Security. To address this Brightkite again empowers its users with the tools of choice. In order to protect yourself from becoming public knowledge, there are three levels upon which you can tweak your privacy settings. Public, Friend, and Trusted Friend. You can then manage each of these groups as to the detail in which they can see where you are. Another interesting feature is seeing where other users are nearby the location you're positioned at. You have the ability to search a selected radius for users who have opted to let the public see their location. What a great way to make new friends!

I know a lot of the topics I've addressed call upon parallels to the features of Twitter. As a semi-heavy Twitterer, I guess it is only natural. Ohh yeah, with Brightkite, you can also ping your posts to other networks such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. While this is still an emerging market and other networks will undoubtedly look to increase their location based offerings, the early market leaders are Brightkite and Loopt. Both offering superb iPhone apps as well as web interfaces. As Google Latitude sets to release its iPhone app the war will officially be under way. While I'm still hesitant to send Google much more of my data, the pure aspect of reach makes it something I will certainly be investigating.

Give these things a try and get on board the next web revolution. If you want to see where I'm at my Brightkite profile is: http://brightkite.com/people/bton24

Also, if this is a topic you are interested in be sure to stay tuned as I'm working on a post pertaining to the evolution of Twitter.