Forget #SXSWi, What 3 non-geeks taught me about the location wars.

20 Replies

The geeks have been watching the geosocial showdown between Gowalla and Foursquare this past week in Austin. We’ve chronicled a flurry of app updates and everyone from Bloomberg to the tech blogs have been reporting every nuance of the competition.25118v5-max-150x150

For my money I think Gowalla is the clear winner of SXSWi 2010. They rose to the challenge and put a significant dent in Foursquare’s dominance. However, the most eye opening events came from 3 non geek friends that have no idea that SXSWi even exists.

The SXSWi scoreboard (or why Gowalla won)

Comments – Their latest apps allows comments on friends checkins. It isn’t perfect and better notification of comments is needed but they understand all social networks need conversation. Last week when I checked in a doctor’s office a friend left a comment asking about my wife’s health. He can’t do that in 4sq. Point:Gowalla

Photos – I can now add photos to locations that I’m checked into. Honestly this is a no brainer. It’s not as slick as Loopt but pics in 4sq? Nope Point:Gowalla

Popularity – While 4sq still holds the lion share of the market (500k vs 100k) there is good evidence that Gowalla had an equal number of checkins at SXSWi. This is a major coup for the underdog. Point:Gowalla

Coverage – I don’t have hard data but it seems that Gowalla has gotten a good bit more coverage on major tech blogs and news outlets shows. Add in the fact that they won the SXSWi web award for Mobile tech and the were chosen as the overall winner of the second annual Statesman Texas Social Media Awards. Point:Gowalla

Intangibles – I’ve got a friend in the biz that has evaluated 4-5 checkin services and he was most impressed with Gowalla’s roadmap and offerings for his clients. Since I’m part of the huddled masses I’m not privy to Gowalla’s future but he’s one of those folks that you can bank on his opinions. If he’s impressed with Gowalla then Point:Gowalla

Moving beyond the Geeks

The story of 3 non-geeks and Gowalla

  • A couple of weeks ago I attended a conference in Memphis. After checking into our rooms our group gathered in the lobby. One of the guys mentioned, “You’ve already checked in to this hotel on Facebook. How’d you do that?”
  • During praise team practice tonight a friend commented on an update I posted from a new Thai place in town. She was interested in trying the place out and was thankful she saw my unflattering review.
  • Then tonight I get home from a revival and I’ve got a Gowalla friend request from a third friend from church. Based on the timeline I assume she’d seen my post Gowalla Facebook status update from church tonight. When I looked at her stream she’d already checked in and dropped an item at a location.

All 3 friends are savvy web users and facebookers and none of them have ever heard of geosocial or SXSWi. Yet all 3 found something interesting in my Gowalla Facebook posts and 1 of them even signed up.

When non-geek folks start taking notice of a technology you’d better pay attention.

Beyond its usefulness it made me wonder. Why Gowalla?

At the risk of oversimplification which status update would you click?

foursquare_versus_gowalla

If you are a non-geek, I’d say the answer is likely Gowalla.

Sure the geosocial war reaches far beyond icon design and user interface but appeal is important. In general I’d say Foursquare appeals mostly to geeks while Gowalla may tap into a larger audience.

The road ahead

Gowalla still has some signficant challenges ahead.

  1. Search – Gowalla desperately needs to enable venue search. @JW (Founder,CEO) says it’s coming in 2.1
  2. Parnterships– Foursquare is moving quickly to partner with everyone from Starbucks to Zagat. Gowalla needs to play catchup.
  3. Business Accounts – Gowalla hasn’t enabled business accounts. Business promotions and incentives is the real battle ground. I know the initial focus must be on building a user base so I’m hoping that Gowalla can begin this new phase soon.
  4. API – 4sq’s API has encouraged other apps like @Waze and @Foodspotting to allow checkins. As this market grows Gowalla needs to have a robust API to encourage 3rd party app integration.
  5. BlackBerry App – Gowalla needs a native Blackberry app. BB users can use m.gowalla.com in the meantime but a native app is needed for widespread adoption. They say more devices are in the works.

Takeaway

The way I see it Gowalla has made a significant leap both in the geek world of SXSWi and the more important market of everyday folks.

UPDATE: According to @Gowalla the have fixed the missing items bug and they are working on a better photo+checkin interface.

  • http://twitter.com/arkstfan Mark Ferguson

    As I said a bit back I use Loopt for photos and that's it. Gowalla has taken away my incentive for loopt.

    Gowalla wins on game play as well. Most of us don't eat out many meals or go to clubs. Topping the leaderboard is hard. Finding and swapping items is easy. I've picked up items around Chicago and St Louis I'll be seeding around central Arkansas. Seeing the history of an item is interesting.

    Finally my perception is that there has been little loyalty developed in this category. Foursquare's lead means little when regular users are agnostic about which service to use.

  • brantc

    But at what point are we just adding too much? I had to turn off notification because of SXSWi check ins, the people I follow on twitter are no longer a person but a location based app check in. So now I must keep up with Facebook, linked in, Twitter, Gowalla, Foursquare, and email, thank god Buzz has not taken off or there would be another. I do like Gowalla and see the future in it for advertising and marketing, but for mass adoption this all has to get easier to manage

  • amybhole

    Great piece.

    With Gowalla, I love the new photo feature, although I HATE that I can't post a photo and check-in with one notification. Having to see two notifications back-to-back is annoying for my friends, but what if I want them to know about both the check-in and the pic? I also like the comments feature, but they need to come up with something equivalent to foursquare's tips.

    I disagree with Mark, though, on the game play. Picking up and dropping items is incredibly boring to me. It's not playing, it's collecting. Maybe it's because there are no exciting items in our area, but I couldn't care less if someone left some stationery at the library. I do like the trips feature, though, and am working on creating some. I'll be glad when I find one I want to try and complete.

    With foursquare, though, I get a real chance to compete with myself and others. I like trying to get new badges. And with foursquare, I stand the chance of getting rewards from businesses, also.

    Bottom line, I'll still use both. They serve different purposes for me. As I've said before, the first app to successfully combine exciting gaming, nice design and usability, a great conversation platform and non-intrusive, yet effective business marketing opportunities gets my vote. Neither foursquare nor Gowalla are there yet.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Keith

    The frustration with these services is actually based on poor usage. Here's the 2 problems

    1) People sharing worthless status update to twitter/facebook

    Honestly, this tweet drives me nuts, “I'm at Place XYZ”. Where is the value in that? You said nothing and you've assumed that I follow you on twitter to know your location. I think the better way is post to tw/fb when I'm actually sharing something. If its a simple checkin then I never broadcast it outside of Gowalla/4sq. I think more folks should adopt this thinking.

    2) You are trying to keep up

    You can't. Quit trying.

    I turned off push notifications the 2nd day I had 4sq/Gowalla installed. Its a flow, when I care where everyone is I open the apps. Like twitter, I had to realize that keeping up is impossible. When I have time to dive into twitter/gowalla/4sq then I do and I interact with the network at that time.

    If I'm head down in a firewall issue I don't care where my friends are. Push notifications are bothersome. However, when I'm walking downtown and might bump into a friend I open the apps and see who is around.

    My 2 cents.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Keith

    Thank you. It's funny because I almost added these 2 exact points to my post.

    Photos: Yes it should be a single step. I'm hoping they plan to fix this.

    Gameplay: I'm with you. I understand the whole geocaching idea but as it stands the whole items thing is pretty boring. I haven't found any cool items in weeks and the 3 items I have I'm not dropping till I find something worthy of swapping. I don't know if they need to enhance the points system or just add a ton more items but the gameplay just isn't getting it done.

    Thanks for commenting and highlighting these 2 areas that Gowalla needs to improve.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Keith

    Mark, I'm the same way. As Gowalla improves its pics I'll probably quite loopt completely. I also like the fact that the reward system isn't built around getting crunk and being on benders. Those badges reinforce the image of drunk college kids and not a mature network.

    I'm not a big fan of the gameplay on Gowalla and I like the concept of badges so I'd like to see more pins and stamps made available.

    Great point about loyalty. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I really appreciate it Mark.

  • brantc

    I guess my point is everyone is trying to make the next great new social network. do we need another? Just thinking out load, not judging:)

  • http://twitter.com/twd3lr Tom Dixon

    Here are a few random thoughts regarding Gowalla. Sometime in January I saw an interview with Josh Williams that indicated that they weren't really in tune with the app as a game and that they were not convinced that it would add value to the app. Josh expressed concern that if Gowalla went that route that it would turn into a competition to see who could most effectively “game the game”. From all of the Twitter updates via Foursquare, I can see how this happens. I'm a fairly competitive person, but I could care less who is Mayor of whatever location; I realize the potential business value in it, but really, I don't care about it for me.

    Gowalla's stamp and pin system has, however, ensnared me. I like being rewarded with stamps for visiting new places and pins for creating spots, visiting spots, completing trips, etc. I'm stuck on 14 pins right now, but I am oh-so-close to having created 100 locations that I'm sure I'll have #15 soon enough. :)

    The past four weeks have been the worst I've experienced when it comes to the rewarding of items for check-ins. I know Gowalla is aware of the issue–they've acknowledged via Twitter that people are complaining, but I wish they would be a bit more open about what they're doing to resolve it. A question for all of you–do you actively vault items or just pick them up and drop them endlessly? Correct me if I'm wrong, but Gowalla really started making a push at SXSWi for people to collect items and use them to exchange for real-world items, right? Any insight on how that actually was done, i.e. did the user have to vault the item or drop it at the location or what?

    Enough rambling from me. Good post, Keith.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Keith

    I agree. I don't think we need another social network. I think we need a
    hundred ways to exist within the networks we already have.

    Of course the geosocial game is a fight right now so we will all spend a few
    months trying multiple apps but it will settle into a few favorites.

    This is one of the reasons I love Twitter. 1 network that everything can
    plug into. People just need to realize that not everything should.

  • http://jojet.com/ @joel_hughes

    Hi,
    sadly I can't really comment much on Gowalla itself as I'm a Blackberry person – and am well catered for by Foursquare with a native app (as well as SocialScope integration).

    I would say this though – I'm really not so interested in the game element in general – I don't want to collect things etc. I am interested in the kudos of being mayor and (more importantly) the real rewards that can bring.

    To me Foursquare provides a platform which can be integrated into rewards systems – this is what I want. The badges on 4SQ are a bit of a novelty but venues will soon be able to add their own…that get's more interesting…I want the location based service to essentially 'step aside' and let the venue shine through. To me it's all about the real world rewards…not just the virtual ones.

    Perhaps 4SQ appeals to me much as Twitter does…the simplicity.

    Joel

  • http://jojet.com/ @joel_hughes

    Hi,
    sadly I can't really comment much on Gowalla itself as I'm a Blackberry person – and am well catered for by Foursquare with a native app (as well as SocialScope integration).

    I would say this though – I'm really not so interested in the game element in general – I don't want to collect things etc. I am interested in the kudos of being mayor and (more importantly) the real rewards that can bring.

    To me Foursquare provides a platform which can be integrated into rewards systems – this is what I want. The badges on 4SQ are a bit of a novelty but venues will soon be able to add their own…that get's more interesting…I want the location based service to essentially 'step aside' and let the venue shine through. To me it's all about the real world rewards…not just the virtual ones.

    Perhaps 4SQ appeals to me much as Twitter does…the simplicity.

    Joel

  • http://jojet.com/ @joel_hughes

    Hi,
    sadly I can't really comment much on Gowalla itself as I'm a Blackberry person – and am well catered for by Foursquare with a native app (as well as SocialScope integration).

    I would say this though – I'm really not so interested in the game element in general – I don't want to collect things etc. I am interested in the kudos of being mayor and (more importantly) the real rewards that can bring.

    To me Foursquare provides a platform which can be integrated into rewards systems – this is what I want. The badges on 4SQ are a bit of a novelty but venues will soon be able to add their own…that get's more interesting…I want the location based service to essentially 'step aside' and let the venue shine through. To me it's all about the real world rewards…not just the virtual ones.

    Perhaps 4SQ appeals to me much as Twitter does…the simplicity.

    Joel

  • http://jojet.com/ @joel_hughes

    Hi,
    sadly I can't really comment much on Gowalla itself as I'm a Blackberry person – and am well catered for by Foursquare with a native app (as well as SocialScope integration).

    I would say this though – I'm really not so interested in the game element in general – I don't want to collect things etc. I am interested in the kudos of being mayor and (more importantly) the real rewards that can bring.

    To me Foursquare provides a platform which can be integrated into rewards systems – this is what I want. The badges on 4SQ are a bit of a novelty but venues will soon be able to add their own…that get's more interesting…I want the location based service to essentially 'step aside' and let the venue shine through. To me it's all about the real world rewards…not just the virtual ones.

    Perhaps 4SQ appeals to me much as Twitter does…the simplicity.

    Joel

  • http://jojet.com/ @joel_hughes

    Hi,
    sadly I can't really comment much on Gowalla itself as I'm a Blackberry person – and am well catered for by Foursquare with a native app (as well as SocialScope integration).

    I would say this though – I'm really not so interested in the game element in general – I don't want to collect things etc. I am interested in the kudos of being mayor and (more importantly) the real rewards that can bring.

    To me Foursquare provides a platform which can be integrated into rewards systems – this is what I want. The badges on 4SQ are a bit of a novelty but venues will soon be able to add their own…that get's more interesting…I want the location based service to essentially 'step aside' and let the venue shine through. To me it's all about the real world rewards…not just the virtual ones.

    Perhaps 4SQ appeals to me much as Twitter does…the simplicity.

    Joel

  • http://jojet.com/ @joel_hughes

    Hi,
    sadly I can't really comment much on Gowalla itself as I'm a Blackberry person – and am well catered for by Foursquare with a native app (as well as SocialScope integration).

    I would say this though – I'm really not so interested in the game element in general – I don't want to collect things etc. I am interested in the kudos of being mayor and (more importantly) the real rewards that can bring.

    To me Foursquare provides a platform which can be integrated into rewards systems – this is what I want. The badges on 4SQ are a bit of a novelty but venues will soon be able to add their own…that get's more interesting…I want the location based service to essentially 'step aside' and let the venue shine through. To me it's all about the real world rewards…not just the virtual ones.

    Perhaps 4SQ appeals to me much as Twitter does…the simplicity.

    Joel

  • brantc

    Yes

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Keith

    Tom thanks for the great comment.

    I agree that the stamps and pins are my favorite part of Gowalla but I
    haven't gotten any in weeks. The last stamp I got was crossing a state line
    into TN. I wish they'd build more of these into the system. Concerning items
    I saw where they planned to release more items but I haven't seen a new item
    in weeks. Perhaps when they get through SXSW they'll let us know what's
    going on and what to expect.

    Personally, I've vaulted a few really special items (3 I think) and the rest
    I've dropped. If I could find more items I'd drop them more frequently.

    Thanks again for the insight and commentary. I really appreciate it.

  • http://KnowtheNetwork.com Keith

    Joel, thanks for adding your voice to this thread.

    Concerning Mayorships it isn't that big of an appeal to me. I like the top
    10 feature in Gowalla and the ability to designate people as creators,
    founders, and active. It opens a broader door for recognizing people.

    The items in Gowalla are a bit of a snooze but they have potential. More
    items, trading, dropping, and real life rewards could really enhance the
    system.

    I think 4sq's strong suit is its simplicity. In fact when I signed my wife
    up for 4sq her exact comment was, “Well that's simple, I might actually use
    it”. I haven't put her on Gowalla yet but I plan to in the next couple of
    days to see what she thinks. She is a non-geek barometer for me.

    Thanks again Joel.

  • http://twitter.com/arkstfan Mark Ferguson

    I don't care what the items are it is the item's history that is interesting. That is a weak point now because most items are unlocked and dropped and are waiting. It could be fun to see items that have been through multiple cities.

  • http://twitter.com/arkstfan Mark Ferguson

    I don't care what the items are it is the item's history that is interesting. That is a weak point now because most items are unlocked and dropped and are waiting. It could be fun to see items that have been through multiple cities.