So for about a month now I’ve been more focused on understanding the benefits of both business review websites,check-in/geo-tagging social networks and other directory websites. Review websites like like Yelp.com and Google Places versus Check-In/Geo-tagging social networks like Foursquare or Gowalla alongside the new growth of Facebook Places and other directory websites like YellowPages, that is. During my research for my work with my internship where I work as Business Manager, Design Studio Art Gallery (and do research for its sister business, the interior design firm Riggio Design Consultants, I decided to put all of my wonderings into words. Let me preface this blog by saying, it’s long, so there ya go. In fact, view a condensed version of this post also posted on DSAG’s blog!
Now, I am more familiar and frequenting Yelp, Google Places, and Foursquare–as I investigate more of these I begin to get a bit more confused of benefits, differences, and what’s good for tieing all of these services together? I haven’t really used some of these services, that’s the next step after I comprehend this all. Keep in mind Google just released their Google Hotspot, Facebook released their Facebook Places, and Twitter as well as blog services are working on Geo-tagging posts. So…they matter too, right?
And so the Investigation Begins…
A great example for the ‘Which should I use?’ question is this video,
The Check-in War: Gowalla vs. Foursquare – AppJudgment
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXeOIgGgvMs&feature=player_embedded
Now, keep in mind, when I investigate these services not only am I looking up what’s the most profitable and useful for both Design Studio Art Gallery but also for Soulstrong Designs, and my own means of staying in touch with friends, fans of my work, and gaining rewards from going out in general. I want a quick answer, a pros-and-cons list, and I want it fast.
The irony I find, is that while I enjoy tweeting quickly from my phone, and I enjoy checking in on Facebook, I rarely feel like I have time to really follow my friends nor do I feel I really have the time to utilize these services without having them steal time away from more important things, like work and life. So how fast are these things? Should they become part of my life? Sometimes I feel they tear me away from actually being social in person or from actually enjoying myself because I become too interested in archive/record-keeping of my spare interests. This is true for blogging as well: Should I email a poem I wrote that I think a friend should enjoy and thus keep it private; or because I like it so much or because it is about someone or many things should I post it to my blog and keep it public? The argument is that this encourages overall connectivity and from an admin/management standpoint encourages people to keep track of things and think about their decisions in life.
So,, what is checking in?
None of these thoughts have standardized answers, and the strange thing is that in many cases, none of this matters. Five to ten years from now these technologies like ‘Where did I send that post from?’ or ‘What can this business offer me by checking-in?’ may or may not still be around. The concept with checking in, is that you visit a place, they advertise on their window and online that they use that service, you check-in and leave a comment; then, your friends see the review, the business sees your thoughts about their business; then, the business gets feedback and sees people using its service, it creates a reward for you (like a discount every so check-ins); and thus the internet is tied to real life rewards. Services like Foursquare and Gowalla are the hip leaders right now, Foursquare way above Gowalla it seems. And while Yelp and Google Places don’t have ‘check-in’ rewards, you can leave reviews on those websites, just like the new Facebook Places and staples like YellowPages and other websites. Though watch out, Google Places and Facebook Places are blurring the lines and of course rising. Find out more about check-ins via Foursquare with NYDailyNews’s article The next Twitter? Foursquare app for Apple’s iPhone mixes social networking and gaming.
How does a company use all of these social…things?
What annoys me, is that when I want to find my local florist, and I pull out my Droid and open up Google Maps (I like Google, I got a Droid after all), I search florist and it shows the ones near me. Yet…as of right now, Google is no longer ‘let’s cross-collaborate with all these services,’ instead it will I’m sure soon say ‘Hey that florist has a Google Places account, leave them a review and check-in’ – If that florist is so cool as to actually use Google Places.
So, I’m then stuck thinking, well let’s say I like Foursquare’s interface and I have friends on it, but I know Yelp is searchable through Facebook and Yelp is used by a bunch of my friends; meanwhile, Facebook’s new Places may or may not tie in with Yelp (I don’t know); and none of these actually answer me for the ‘Wait! Where should I review?’ question. Please note, for me, services like YellowPages are in the dust so I never even used them to find the damn florist though I was raised on YellowPages and Yellow Book (which are different companies, found that out last month!). According to Google Trends as well as BusinessWeek’s review of Yelp, Yelp is the biggest search engine out there for user-submitted review websites, but…as I said earlier, according to SmallBusinessTrends.com’s article of the introduction of Google Hotspots opposite Yelp, Google no longer includes Yelp user reviews in its search pages. Keep in mind, Google Places is not the leader in looking up places online, Yelp is. 
So why stick with Google then? We all say “Google this” but normally I think that’s in relation to facts. People still use other services like Bing (MSN), Yahoo, AOL, and Yelp’s main competitors YellowPages, SuperPages, CitySearch, etc. too. I don’t even use any of these! So, I want to find that florist, if I Google it on my phone’s browser, I’ll come up with names and telephone numbers (at the top of the page thanks to Google Places), if they are social online, the florist websites’ will pop up on services like Facebook and Yelp, and of course I’ll see their website as well as their listings on Yellow Pages, Yellow book, and the like. Keep in mind, if I didn’t look this up on my browser, an alternative would be to download YellowPage’s app, or Yelp’s app, etc. So yipes, that’s a lot of possibilities.
When I actually choose the florist, go to the florist, and am in the shop, if I want to write about the florist, I can log into my phone’s apps for Foursquare, Yelp, Google Places, Facebook Places, or Gowalla (I’d use Foursquare though, that video convinced me!). Or, of course I can write about the place on Twitter, my blog, or just write a quick note on my Facebook wall. 
In theory, when that florist then Googles their name or checks their name or accounts (if they have accounts) on these websites, my post will pop up. Of course, on sites like Yelp, that’s only guaranteed if I post a lot–otherwise they’ll think since I post so little my post isn’t important or ironically, not important or um, not…spam. WTF? That’s…a lot of possibilities. Overwhelming much?
Eek! I find myself recognizing that if these companies are smart, like I am with Design Studio Art Gallery, we have accounts on multiple services, and in theory, if people begin talking about the business, then more and more people will spread word about DSAG and as I weekly check these services we can cater our business based on some user feedback. Annoyingly, with all of these companies growing and fighting for attention, I know that in the long end, I’m hoping some mergers will make my life easier–but until then, it’s a lot of checking and staying up to date. Strangely, I look into all of this because a lot of people do this regularly! They probably just use one service though, so we need to be on the major ones then as well as some of the little ones too!
A Conclusion?
In the end, I really don’t use any of these services other than Google, Facebook and Twitter, when I want to look up a business or write my thoughts about a place. Haha. For now, I’m a bit too hesitant. After all, Google Latitude is creepy (see PC World’s article, Three Reasons Why I Won’t Be Using Google Latitude). And even then, when I use all of this, it’s normally writing a note on my Facebook wall. At the end of the day, for now, few of my friends actually use these services and so until they do, I’ve got homework to do. Besides, this blog became too long anyway.
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