Why We Check In
There are a variety of reasons – many emotional – motivating people to post and share their location, including:
- Connecting, or hoping to connect, with others who in the same place, such as at a conference or when visiting another city.
- Tracking family members or letting specific people know your location for safety purposes
- Checking in to receive points and compete for loyalty rewards
- Using the quest of apps like Gowalla badges as a scavenger hunt and discovering news places
- Using the apps as digital memory assistance to keep a personal history of a trip or maintain a real-time photo diary on Brightkite
Although people cite a variety of reasons they check in, the element of bragging about where you’ve been and what you’ve done remains a constant. These check-in services provide a less-explicit way to show off. Most users don’t check in at the mundane locations they frequent, such as the dry cleaners and dentist’s office. Instead, they filter their check-ins to enhance their online image. “One still sees the Friday night flurry as the singles chase each other from bar to bar, the self-important announcements of major travel from state to state, check-ins at “happening” venues and events, or at more classy restaurants than the grease pits I’m owning,” writes blogger Louis Gray. According to a data visualization by BitsyBot Labs, check-ins at food establishments are the most common on Foursquare, as well as travel-related check-ins. Check-ins at bars beat out check-ins at places of education and parks.
GPS applications like Foursquare and Gowalla contribute to the current culture of ambient intimacy. According to Leisa Reichelt, ambient intimacy is “about being able to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.” While she uses photo-sharing website Flickr and social media site Twitter as examples, GPS technology provides another level of intimacy through the sharing of one’s exact and current location. In fact, as mentioned above, Flickr and other photo uploading sites allow for “geotagging,” or pinpointing the location of a current photograph. Foursquare allows people all over the country to know almost exactly where their friends are at a given time; it is almost more efficient than Facebook in conveying information about a person and their day. Soon, we will have the ability to not only speak with friends and family over the phone, but (with permission granted) have access to their exact location at the time of the phone call. With location-based social media, families and friends spread far and wide have the potential to know who is eating dinner out, who is walking through a museum, and who is coming home.
