Real-world location check-ins are going to come to Facebook in a big way soon. That means you’ll be able to see what restaurants your old friends from school go out to eat at and how often, where they vacation and where they shop.
Some early adopters of location services like Foursquare and Gowalla already admit that they check in to brag about all the cool places they go. Will adding location to Facebook add a new layer of economic class psychology to the otherwise relatively egalitarian social network? If I’m the mayor of the Ritz and you’re the mayor of Taco Bell, how is that going to change the Facebook experience? Does it matter? More likely, I’m checking in at fancy places and you’re not checking in at all.
It’s not hard to be “the mayor” of a location on Foursquare: you just have to show up. For some places you have to have the expendable income and leisure time to be able to afford to show up regularly. And have a smartphone to check in. It seems likely that Facebook will enable check-ins for feature phones as well, though.
Will the addition of a whole lot of location into Facebook make some people uncomfortable? Will it add a new element of shame to some peoples’ use of the service (“I wish I could go out to dinner that often, but I guess I’m just a loser”) or will it shine a light on hipster twerps that were otherwise hidden as casual connections in our feed? (“You went to RonTom’s on Burnside again, get over yourself!”)
Maybe being concerned about this is patronizing. Maybe not being concerned about it is insensitive. Maybe in the face of bigger problems it’s entirely beside the point – but Facebook has changed millions of peoples lives in very real ways.
Facebook has been a great equalizing force for communication and the posting of baby pictures, but will incorporating the travel and consumption part of our offline lives spoil some of the fun? The off-line world is not a fair place. What will be the consequences of tying more of it into our online lives?
Maybe being concerned about this is patronizing. Maybe not being concerned about it is insensitive. Maybe in the face of bigger problems it’s entirely beside the point – but Facebook has changed millions of peoples lives in very real ways.
What do you think? There is a wide variety of responses people I’ve asked have had to this question. I’d love to see a broader discussion here.
