http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/2011_the_year_the_check-in_died.php The big problem is taking it beyond novelty, sure. There's also levels of privacy that were a big part of BK. Letting friends know exactly where you were but only letting the public know city, for example, was a great thing. Here, having levels of privacy (friend, trusted, and public) and customizable levels of detail for each would make this even better.

lol they spelled Brightkite wrong.

I agree that checking in just for the sake of checking in is going away. Most of the time I checkin anymore it's with Gowala and I rarely even xpost it to twitter b/c I figure no one really cares. Hell, I don't even care. I think it's a lot more interesting when ppl post a pic like with Foodspotting of their meal if they're at a restaurant for example. And makes it easier for others later to figure out what kind of food they serve etc. So there's a point to it. I use Foodspotting all the time now to find restaurants.

I think the problem with 4sq and Gowalla is they never really gave you a reason to checkin anywhere (mayorships and uh fake water bottles are stupid, so no.) So as the fad wears off it's going to wear of fast. I'm a social media whore and I've never gotten much benefit out of checking in anywhere. At a bar onetime the waitress 'recognized' me from 4sq and she was still slow.

So I'm really only loyal to sites that I get something socially out of, like you know actually meeting ppl. Never got that from 4sq or gowalla. Pretty much only twit, Bk and irovr fills that bill for me.

Yeah I agree. I think major point of interest is enough. And I've only talked to two people in 3 years of doing this b/c we both checked in to the same place. There's more to building relationships than standing on a street corner yelling "I'm here".

Oh and I liked how the article mentioned that Fb "Places" was kind of a bust.