Last Thursday I created a poll listing 17 location-based social networks/ apps for the readers of socialwayne.com and my Twitter followers. The poll was for readers to vote on their favorite location based social network or app. During the voting process one of the most consistent comments I received was that most users didn’t know there were so many location based apps available. I could see how because if you read most of the popular tech blogs you’ll think there are only three or four available but that’s another post to discuss. Either way I didn’t receive thousands of votes but I do feel that the results are accurate based on the current trend of blogosphere as it discusses location based apps with the exception of Yelp being added to the list late Friday evening after they updated their iPhone app. Also some of the comments I believe provide insight on why some of the location base apps my see a decline in traffic, along with a few new location based apps that I was not aware of added by voters. Regardless, you can view the analytics, results and comments from the location based social network/app poll below.
Clicks and shares
610 bit.ly clicks on the link I shared
774 Total clicks total
55 other Twitter users shared the link
386 Clicks from the United States
388 Clicks from other Countries
Three location based apps shared the poll: Brightkite, Whrrl and UrbanKite
Votes
317 Total Votes
The Top 6:
Foursquare 35%
Brightkite 31%
Gowalla 12%
Whrrl 8%
TriOut 6%
Other answers
Other location based apps users voted for that were not on the list:
MobileMe
The Local Pub
origo.no
Grindr
Tellmewhere
Dopplr
aka aki
Twitter
sleeq.com
Geocaching
Waze
qik
GPS Assassins
Interesting Comments:
From Rachel
For a long time I was very loyal to Brightkite… until I discovered Foursquare. Brightkite was fun and I met a lot of people while it was still in Beta, but after a while I lost motivation to continue checking in. Then Foursquare came around and it seemed to just make more sense.
From Mike
I too was a long time Brightkite addict, until they changed to version 2.0, had lots of problems and then the android application stopped working.
I’m slightly puzzled about foursquare though. Is it not just a game? Where is the interaction element of it?
I dont see a way to post comments on peoples notes?
How do you post a general note? And I see no way to upload photos?
I have a feeling Gowala is similar?
From Chris:
I think BrightKite would get a larger part of the vote if some of the old features were to return to the new version. I know I miS the friend search feature for finding people I already know (the browse function is a meak replacement). It’s not as interesting to share your location if you can’t find people you know to share it with.
I think Loopt has some interesting features, but they need to open it up for than just their limitied list of carriers.
Lattitude has potential, but doesn’t have a way to check in to specific locations.
Foursquare seems to be gaining ground. All of these sites will be better once more people turn to one more than another.
One thing I think most of the location-based services need is a way to check out of a place, so you can check out when you leave.
From Ryan:
What about Dooplr, TripIt, Yelp, Urbanspoon? These are all fantastic niche location based social networks related to travel and reviews.
Do you agree the results of the poll and comments?
