It’s been interesting to see the progression of Facebook’s strategy over the past few years.

First, they began emulating Twitter with statuses and redesigned feeds, now location-based services are being integrated with the rollout of Facebook Places.

I’m curious as to whether they’re “following trends”, or simply copying everyone else. Facebook started as an easy way to keep in touch with people you know, yet they’re straying more and more from that core competency.

Foursquare and Gowalla serve very small niches, in that everyone I add or accept is there solely for the purpose of sharing location. However, when you bring the massive amounts of Facebook friends into the loop, you run into an issue of not only privacy, but also relevance.

I check in quite frequently, so my (currently nonexistent) use of Places would quickly become annoying to friends, somewhat akin to linking all Twitter posts to Facebook. Plus, I’d rather check in on Foursquare, where I can earn points, mayorships, badges, specials, and other cool schwag.

It’s also strange that the outrage surrounding this launch isn’t near as bad as the blowup a few months ago. I’d think the average user with the notion of “Facebook knows my location” would raise a lot more red flags than a few tweaks here and there. Just goes to show how much of an impact bloggers have on public perception.

The big picture

Places is taking location to the mainstream. We’re seeing the same trends repeat themselves as with the shark-jumping of Twitter. Depending on opinion, this could be seen as good or bad, but, from a somewhat selfish perspective, I think it’s more of the latter.

I remember when none of my non-tech friends were on Twitter, and to be honest, I kinda liked it that way. Twitter was my happy place. Now it’s location apps.

Oh, wait.

Do you use Facebook Places? Is the mainstream push of location good or bad?

Last weekend, LessConf, a two-day conference about technology, startups, and business, was held at Georgia Tech Research Institute in Midtown Atlanta. This was the second iteration of the event; last year’s was in Jacksonville. Organized by Steve Bristol and Allan Branch, this was without a doubt the best tech event I’ve ever been to. Both Steve and Allan were incredibly chill and, more than anything else, just wanted everyone to have a good time. And that I did.

Day 1

Flickr: jay_tennier

Upon registration, attendees were able to pick up a copy of Seth Godin’s Linchpin, as well as various other stickers and giveaways. After a hilarious intro, the talks kicked off around 10:30. The lineup for the first day consisted of the following amazing speakers:

• Cameron Moll (AuthenticJobs)
• Chris Wanstrath (GitHub)
• Saul Colt (Thoora)
• Dan Martell (Flowtown)
• David Hansson and Jason Fried (37signals)

I especially enjoyed Cameron’s talk about finding inspiration in design. The difference between influence and inspiration was an interesting concept: influence is actively sought, while inspiration is not. Valuable insight was also given on how to capture inspiration when it surfaces; Cameron mentioned setting up a wall of paper next to a workspace, as well as keeping a dive slate in the shower. As someone primarily focused on front-end web development, I was able to gain new perspective on how to approach a project by taking a step back and becoming passively engaged. The revelation also hit me that good design shouldn’t always be focused on logic, but on how you feel.

Lunch was a great networking opportunity; my associate Adam and I had the chance to sit down with the Grooveshark team and exchange ideas. Shane’s Rib Shack catering provided by Balsamiq was also much appreciated.

The afterparty was held at Whiskey Park, inside the W on 14th Street. It was a prime location to talk with Shane Reustle, Geoff Hamrick, Chris Wanstrath, Julia Roy, and many more awesome people. Like everything else associated with the conference, it was about as off-the-hook as it gets. Loud music, dim lighting, flash photography, and free drinks (sponsored by MailChimp) made a perfect close to a day full of intelligent geekiness. It’s just how New Dorks roll.

Day 2

The second day of the conference started with bacon-infused pancakes, sponsored by Storenvy. After a good half-hour of catching up from the last night, the second round of speakers kicked off with:

• Alex Hillman (IndyHall)
• Peldi Guilizzoni (Balsamiq)
• Clay Hebert (TribesWin)

Clay’s talk about becoming a linchpin was extremely inspiring; the value of resumes was discussed, with him outlining that a traditional PDF leaves little room for creative expression. A great example was shown through a Foursquare mockup resume, in which badges represented positions and achievements. In short, be so good they can’t ignore you.

The education portion of the talk also spoke to me; Clay expanded on how the current educational system trains the factory workers of tomorrow, primarily instilling the ability to follow instructions in graduates. From my personal experiences, I can unilaterally vouch for these observations. Question the status quo. Break rules. Be a leader.

At 11 that night, the final afterparty kicked off at Noni’s Bar and Deli, where Regator’s Kimberly Turner was DJing. I was interviewed by BZD Films about both Rank ‘em and the conference in general, and also had great conversations with Jessica Barnett, Janette Crawford, Chris Turner, and everyone else who made it out. I really didn’t want the two days to be over, but had an outstanding time and look forward to next year.

Final Thoughts

LessConf rocked. The end.

In the past few years, location-based social networking has really taken off, namely SXSW-fueled Foursquare. I first began using location services back in the days of Brightkite, through which I’d post a shortened URL to Twitter. It worked great for a while, but I became bummed out with the limited interactivity of Brightkite and began to slack off on my checkins.

And then came Foursquare.

I’d heard about Foursquare well before I signed up for an account. I held off, mainly because I didn’t want to deal with the unnecessary hassle of integrating yet another site into my online presence. However, the buzz eventually became too large to ignore, so I broke down and set up an account.

The Good

As a user, you’re constantly engaged with badges, mayorships, and points.  At some places, the checkin race for mayor can be quite competitive, leading to Foursquare’s true value for businesses: customer loyalty. I’ll occasionally drop by a Starbucks when I might otherwise not, simply for the sake of protecting my mayorship. Recognizing this value, Starbucks has teamed up with the Austin startup to provide a badge for checking in at 5 different locations. Hopefully this will lead to a special offer (discounts provided by venues rewarding frequent checkins and/or mayorships).

It’s also helpful to be able to see when others are checked in at the same place – a refreshing way to meet new people. The ability to view a record and trends of everywhere you’ve been is also interesting; there’s a site called CheckoutCheckins that authenticates with Foursquare, allowing you to view a heat map of your history.

The Not-So-Good

Unfortunately, once most of the basic badges are unlocked (Newbie to Super User), it can be difficult to gain some of the more obscure ones, so most of the gaming element shifts to mayorships. Also, opponents claim privacy as a major issue, especially with the recent launch of PleaseRobMe. However, that’s dependent on people knowing where you live – users just need to be responsible in their friending and accepting, as well as in the pushing of checkins to other sites. You control the data that’s put out there. I won’t accept a request from anyone that:

1. I haven’t met in person.
2. I don’t have any idea of who they are.
3. Isn’t local.

It’s nothing personal, I just don’t see the value in having hundreds of friends that I either haven’t met or don’t have a chance of meeting. You can’t treat Foursquare like other social networks; you need to be mindful of everyone that will be seeing checkin data, which, within the site, only friends can view. And don’t add your house.

Overall

There’s definitely ups and downs, but Foursquare is still an exciting platform to be on. It’s tough to put my finger on the single element that keeps me hooked: a combination between the competitive nature and connectivity between friends. The platform’s certainly not for everyone, but if you’re the New Dork type, I recommend giving it a try.

Are you an active Foursquare user? Does the good outweigh the bad?