Facebook Has Entered The Building

So the check-in game has finally reached the masses. Facebook has legitimized location based services by coupling them together with their online experience with the introduction of Facebook Places. So what now…

Most of the videos I’ve watched like this one with Gowalla’s CTO and articles I’ve read from the launch yesterday to the preliminary reviews today are putting this move in a very good light. It was somewhat expected, but also somewhat surprising to me that I saw such positive reactions from Foursquare and Gowalla who are definitely leading brand names in this space. But, I honestly don’t understand why. I think with facebook’s 500 million users, of which the initial launch is only the US, there is no competition in the long term. Is this one of the more recent display of web politics playing a role in masking the fact that these companies might not stand a chance in the long term given the fact that the 800 Pound Gorilla has entered the room? Or, are they just so excited that this industry has finally been validated and that their businesses are about to see huge growth potential as an end result?

An immense amount of people call Facebook there social home base when it comes to digital life.  Now many more people will have the ability to use this new service that have never been exposed to or ever even heard of before, other than those of us in the Social Media “know” whom have been experimenting with for quite some time now. This leads me to believe that once facebook builds features and adds serious value in order to monetize this, what possible reason would there be for me to go back to a service in which I already push the data out to Facebook itself?  I already scan Facebook and Twitter to see if users are signed up for these services in order to connect, so why not just use it within Facebook and cut out the middle man.

Also, we sure can’t ignore the fact that the win for Bing is huge, as they have partnered with Microsoft’s search engine to power Facebook Places maps. I realized that immediately when I did my first check-in and claimed my business in order to become the admin. Of course it makes sense with Microsoft’s hefty investment in Bing.

It also peaks my curiosity even more as to where the strategy’s motive is coming from. If it wasn’t to be the ultimate leader in the space, why not buy a service, work with them, and be done with it?  Many opinions are that in fact it’s taking this space mainstream. I wholeheartedly hope and believe it truly is. My real question is how are these channels outside the network going to be able to compete with Facebook’s already established social graph?

I suppose loyalty to the original service could play somewhat of a role, but it’s hard to believe that in the end people are going to stay in a different place than where all of their friends are playing. Especially when you consider that average users have not been using or even exposed to such a service before. Most will just now be discovering and undoubtedly excited about a brand new tool they can add and gain value from collectively. That always makes a huge impact. Here’s another video. A Foursquare executive being interviewed by someone from Mashable with some pretty tough questions but something to definitely think on.

Anyway, that’s my 2 cents on the inital stages of listening, reading, and hearing what I’ve taken in about the launch of Facebook Places. I really do hope I’m wrong. I have a huge amount of respect for companies like Gowalla and Foursquare. I’ve believed in the value of these services from day one. That being said, they are going to have to make some very big moves if they plan to compete with the juggernaut that is Facebook.  I believe pioneers should win in the end, but I also know that’s often not the case in the long term. My hope is that this will escalate an entire space to new heights never seen before all thanks to Facebook’s final, but late to the game, initiative. I just find it fascinating how it’s being received in the very early stages.

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciate. Thanks for taking the time.
Respectfully, DG