Take Foursquare, the social networking site/location-based mobile game started by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai and launched in March 2009 at SXSW. Users follow the whereabouts of their “friends” and start checking in at participating locations to earn badges, mayorships and even discounts. They can also see who else is there and decide whether or not they want to meet up.
Competitors GoWalla, co-founded by Josh Williams and Scott Raymond (and also rolled out at last year’s SXSW), and Brightkite (popular in Western Europe and co-founded by Martin May) take a similar approach and make it easy for friends to find each other.
People keeping their social network posted on not just where they are, but where they’re off to next is the natural next step. Plancast, a new service launched by TechCrunch alum Mark Hendrickson and co-founder Jay Marcyes, makes this a cinch with its Twitter and Facebook integration. So if your marketing executive is jet-setting to London for a conference, then plans to go for a pint at the Red Lion in St. James’s, he can broadcast his plans to colleagues.
Plancast isn’t the only player in this space; competitors Dopplr and TripIt also let users share their travel plans.
iPling, launched in January 2007 by a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, inspires real-life meetups by letting people instantly connect with others in their nearby geographic area — but it’s based on shared interests or backgrounds (such as alma mater) with random strangers, not an existing network of friends or followers.
MagnetU connects strangers, too — via a wearable wireless sensor synced to a user’s mobile device. The service prompts interaction by notifying via phone if a person of similar interests — such as a potential business partner or love interest — is standing mere yards away (giving new meaning to the idea of serendipity). Yaron Moradi, founder and CEO of the Israeli company, describes the platform as a “people magnet.”
Justin and Annabelle Parfitt certainly believe social networking is the next step in matchmaking; tech-savvy singles logged in to the pair’s Canadian online dating site Fastlife use Twitter to find Mr. or Ms. Right by attending Flitter parties. So instead of a lonely evening spent scrolling through an endless stream of photos of potential dates on their home computer, daters attend special events in person and tweet (and meet) the object of their affection.
As more people merge real-life interactions with virtual ones, one thing is clear: The social Web presents untapped business opportunities for forward-thinking entrepreneurs.
Source: smallbusiness.aol.com
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: AOL Small Business, Small Business Checklists, small business owners, Small Business Success