What can Geo-Tweeting do for Indiana?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on October 27, 2009 at 11:13pm

First, geolocation on Twitter is opt-in and has a limited shelf life. Unlike tweet content, which is never deleted, Twitter plans to purge the location data after a couple weeks. It is meant to be real-time meta information (although I suspect third-party apps will start capturing this long-term anyway).

The new data won't do anything different than what is currently passing for geolocation on Twitter right now—the text in the Location field of the profile—but it does bring it to the content level, rather than tying it to the user. For those with iPhones or other applications that already leverage the mobile device's geolocation, updating the location field, that info is now going to be attached to each tweet as well. Most people on Twitter, though, use the location field with a great deal of accuracy in reflecting their current hometown. Now, Twitter will allow a separation of these two things, giving developers more precision in finding where the content is happening.

The biggest benefit (for those who opt-in and have the means to pass this geolocation info on ... a small percentage of Twitter users) will be to avoid having to use hashtags to identify events. Imagine just tweeting and being able to collect all of the content originating from a conference center. That's a big plus, imo.

I love the idea of FourSquare, btw, but I lack a smart phone (making the process manual) and Bloomington is not yet supported by the foursquare community. It is a great way, though, to cultivate "Norms" (the George Wendt variety) for specific places and give locations its own social hierarchy and support system. I could see geolocation on Twitter cultivating those same benefits for smaller towns and cities.

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Permalink Reply by Pat Coyle on October 27, 2009 at 11:20pm

I could see geolocation on Twitter cultivating those same benefits for smaller towns and cities.

Or perhaps tourism attractions? #leafcam

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Permalink Reply by Amy Stark on October 28, 2009 at 10:28am

Nice mention on WTHR morning news yesterday Pat. Congratulations!

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Permalink Reply by Pat Coyle on October 28, 2009 at 12:00pm

Thanks, Amy, but why weren't you sleeping at that hour?!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Theisen on October 28, 2009 at 8:00am

There is a new site that seems to have some relevance in the context of this post. Jason Falls is involved in the project somehow but I'm not sure about alot of specifics. The site is http://mytpsreport.com

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on October 28, 2009 at 9:05am

This local trends map is interesting, too (http://trendsmap.com/), but it's about using location for information content. The foursquare kinds of apps are about identifying small community around place.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Stark on October 28, 2009 at 10:23am

You asked, "What new breakthroughs in entertainment, business, community or tourism apps do you see emerging now that geography and Twitter are linked?"

Because of the simplicity of the twitter application, it can be used with stripped down basic cell phones. When you add the number of cell phones with the number of PCs, Macs and other devices connected to the cloud, there are currently 4 Billion twitter ready devices. At this moment in time, there is no other social media platform with the potential reach of twitter.

If Indiana wants to remain relevant in the information age, we need some jobs that can tap into this global market.
I don't have to tell you the importance of frequency so when Indianapolis or Fort Wayne or #Indiana pops up in the global dialog it can ONLY help our future. Geo-Tweeting can be done with VERY little effort and no additional cost to the geo-tweeter so I can see no argument against it.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Ho on October 28, 2009 at 11:11am

Having had some part in "encouraging" Foursquare to come to Indianapolis, I've been promoting Foursquare via my social media activity on places such as my blog and my tweetstream. I've even been having fun with frustrated friends who can't use Foursquare YET!

WHY am I doing this? I WAS very hopeful that Brightkite would "catch on" in Indianapolis, but it never got very many members. Oh well, at least it did better than Plazes! Notice how long ago I joined Plazes! :-) Clearly, I've been "drinking the location-based service Koolaid" for quite some time!

I care because I want to promote Indianapolis. I've been doing that since I approached a local leader almost two years ago to initiate a placeblogging campaign which I've continued to encourage. That campaign has borne some fruit.

Here's an article which reviews the current contenders. See my Delicious social bookmarks for more.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Ho on October 28, 2009 at 11:45am

I wanted to recognize Bob Burchfield of AroundIndy.com for sharing his awesome content with the Indianapolis placeblog.

Another guy who "gets it" is Scotty's Brewhouse who has posted promotions on Foursquare after I encouraged him to do so.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Burchfield on October 28, 2009 at 12:20pm

Thank you for the mention, Doc. I appreciate it. One thing I learned quickly is that if Dr. Ho suggests it, I had better get with it...PRONTO. I've been piddling around with foursquare.com for the past week or so at his suggestion. It seems like it has potential if enough Indianapolis and Indiana users subscribe to it. If a majority of Smoosiers joined, for example, and used it regularly, wouldn't THAT be a dynamic source of Indianapolis information?

Another geo app that Dr. Ho recommended is http://outside.in. That's got potential, too, IMHO. I'm trying to incorporate all these suggestions into my Web content whenever logistically possible.

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Permalink Reply by Pat Coyle on October 28, 2009 at 12:27pm

I'll admit it...I signed up for FourSquare, but really don't see what I'm supposed to do. Help?

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Permalink Reply by Bob Burchfield on October 28, 2009 at 2:54pm

It seems to me that the "Add Things" option in FourSquare has the most potential. If Smoosiers took the time to add their favorite restaurants, theatres, venues, fairs, festivals--whatever--not only would it provide a great source of information and recommendations about Indianapolis and central Indiana venues, but it would also identify the "most popular" and "best of the best," and conversely, those venues that perhaps do not measure up in one way or another. In that sense, it has the potential to raise the bar for customer service, name recognition, customer satisfaction, etc.

Plus, Foursquare's ability to identify other users who are nearby to you has the potential to increase face-to-face social interaction.

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