Hmmm...

› 2011: The Year the Check-in Died

Why do people check in? Why should they?

• Finding people near you, a.k.a. serendipity: When your friends happen to be at the same location, it’s like magic. Especially useful at conferences, this is check-ins at their best.
• Points and the hoped-for rewards: Whether it is rewards on SCVNGR or deals on Foursquare, people hope to get a discount: a free appetizer, a dollar off coffee. These deals are in their very early stages on location-based services.
• To remember things: In new cities or new venues, I’ll often check in (privately) just to remember the place I went. Marshall Kirkpatrick has discussed this use case as well.
• Personal branding: While most people wouldn’t use this term, it is what’s going on. People are creating a personal online identity for themselves, showcasing who they are by telling everyone what they’re doing. (Less charitably: they’re bragging, and I’m just as guilty of it as most).

Here’s why none of these are going to lead to significant growth for the LBS players.

The serendipity factor is very much a creature of big cities, certain demographic segments, and New York in particular. If you’re in New York, where all your friends are within 10 blocks of you and can quickly get from one location to the next, this is actually awesome. But it’s not so hot in big cities like Los Angeles that are too spread out for these serendipitous moments to happen.

Games are fun for about two weeks, but most don’t have staying power. Like a lot of folks, I really dig Call of Duty: Black Ops, but I can only kill so many zombies before it’s time to do something else. Games are a novelty and have a very finite shelf life. So long as check-ins are “just a game”, they’ll be subject to the short life cycle of a game.

Remembering things holds promise of long-term value; a digital memory bank of places I’ve been could be really handy. It’s just not clear that most people really need it. Unless you spend all your time traveling and going new places, there’s just not that much to remember.

Personal branding is most common amongst the digital elite - the bloggers, social media mavens, tech execs (ok, I plead guilty). Outside a niche set of people who want the personal branding (or ego boost) of the check-in, most people not only don’t want to check-in, but they don’t know why they should. Most women I talk to are creeped out by broadcasting their location.

How many “I just ousted Fred as the mayor of Starbucks” messages do you see in your stream?

 
Read Write Web has neatly summed the way I feel about checking in — that it’s pointless at best, and at worst, detracting from the actual experience of being at a place.
 

Photos being shared in the moment by location could tap into one of the key early drivers of Facebook growth photo sharing, and seeing what you’re friends are up to. A photo is way more powerful than a cryptic Twitter post about a check-in.

 
Ahhh…

If anyone can make a go of this in a really nice way, I think it’ll be something that has the feel as good and be at least as effortless as Instagram.