socialmedian: Location-Based Social Networking to Generate $3.3 Billion by 2013?

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Location-Based Social Networking to Generate $3.3 Billion by 2013?

Submitted by Rutgerblom

Aug 01, 2008

Summary

According to a rather speculative report by research firm ABI Research, location-based social networks like Brightkite, GyPSii, Pelago and Loopt could reach revenues as high as $3.3 billion by 2013. Read the full article

Comments (11)

Jasongoldberg,

Aug 01, 2008

A friend of mine had idea to day for a "Train Me" LBS app for iphone. Idea is person could click a button to find personal trainers available that day near them, read reviews, etc. What do you think?

Weblaunches,

Aug 02, 2008

Location based Social Networking

Rutgerblom,

Aug 02, 2008

I think that could be interesting. I think it is something that should be possible to integrate in existing networks though.

Infinitelymeta,

Aug 02, 2008

Location-based socnets introduce a whole new set of challenges, most notably around security and privacy. I've been a BrightKite user since May and use it mostly as a testbed to see if I can dig deeper into the benefits and implications of broadcasting your location to others online. I see a lot of opportunity, but also a lot of risk. Time will tell.

Kaywa,

Aug 02, 2008

I think LBS has a great future, but as long it is only GPS or Cell based, I don't see it going far today. But there are other means much more promising right now. Our own DokoDare project wants to address this.

Rutgerblom,

Aug 02, 2008

I do not really understand the security concern around location-based social networking. Take Brightkite for example. You decide yourself when and where to check in. I guess even with location-based social networks that use GPS, the user has this kind of control. Also the user creates its own network of followers and has control over who receives location updates. I don't think we should overreact about security. I think users of location-based networks are well aware of what they are doing. People that don't like to expose their location will simply avoid location-based social networks.
In other words I don't think location-based social networks will take over because they are not for everyone.

Infinitelymeta,

Aug 02, 2008

Rutgerblom - I guess my concern is over people getting on location-based socnets without understanding the implications of broadcasting thier location to (1) the public, (2) "friends", (3) family - and how easy/hard it is to adjust/fine tune who you broadcast your information to. If you broadcast to the public, then there are obviously implications for stalker/predator types trolling for location-based updates in their proximity. I think this is more of a challenge for teens and young children who are new to these types of socnets. I'm not saying this is happening, but rather that it could, and that's the last thing I want to see happen to anyone.

Kaywa,

Aug 02, 2008

@rutgerblom and infinitelymeta,

I think the problem with current LBS system is that you are "on" most of the time and you have to "opt out" when you don't want to be "on". If we reverse it, you have to "opt in" if you want to be "on", the whole equation changes.

Bwana,

Aug 03, 2008

I was just talking about how big this is on the iPhone. I don't know about 3.3 billion though, but I'll be watching.

Jasongoldberg,

Aug 03, 2008

I think urbanspoon is on to something with their LBS iphone app. Being able to find out what the community recommends as the best restaurants near to where you are right now is awesome.