Location-based social networks are ‘the next big thing’

This is a guest post from Patrick Powers, Interactive Media Manager at Webster University. This post originally appeared on his blog, PatrickPowers.net:

Here’s what I imagine to expect the next big thing when it comes to social media in higher education (and really social media in any industry): location-based social networking.

Yeah, I know, I’m a bold prognosticator.

Twitter, to some extent, is already starting to embrace the idea by allowing users to attach a location to tweets. But there’s a number of services you may have heard of doing it better in my opinion and they’re quickly rising in popularity — Foursquare, Yelp, Gowalla.

Take the application “Foursquare” for example — deemed “next year’s Twitter” by CNN. Foursquare is a virtual game that allows users to “check-in” at locations and awards them points for each check-in. A certain number of points makes you the “mayor” of a location or earns you “badges” that tout your usage.

Already, businesses are tying Foursquare “check-ins” to special deals. For example, check in to frozen desert maker Tasti D-Lite in New York City and you’re eligible for a discount. Foursquare also allows users to see who is already checked-in at a location and provides the means to chat with directly at those users.

So what does this have to do with higher education? Everything.

Remember a few years ago when university web geeks like myself were bouncing around with the idea of Twitter and how colleges and universities might better use the emerging tool? The same conversations are occurring today among the same group of geeks. Only this time the topics is Foursquare vs. Gowalla. Here’s why we all should care:

• Students are already playing. They’re checking in at campus locations and attaching recommendations for others who do the same.
• Harvard University recently partnered with Fourquare to set up a university-specific page.
• Some universities have used Gowalla to set-up self-guided campus tours encouraging users to check-in at several locations across campus.

I suspect only more is to come.

Don’t forget to check out Partick’s blog. Also, you can follow the Social Media Report on Foursquare if you are interesed.