You Know Where I Am, But You Don't Know Me

Guest post from Carlo Longino

Location-based services have had a resurgence lately, in the guise of "social location" services. But even if you know where I am, do you really know much about me? Some social service I use says I'm at a bar, or broadcasts my location to you. Do I want you to join me, or am I just wanting to show off? And what about you? Do you even care where I am?

There are some really great mobile location services out there, like mapping and local search. They work really well because the user specifies pretty exactly what they want, whether it's the nearest gas station or directions to a location. It's when services move beyond this explicit level of specificity that things get a little hairy.

Maybe you and I are friends, and maybe we're near each other. Maybe one of us is having a coffee. But, with fear of sounding like a misanthrope, so what? Does a service that lets us know either one of these two facts really add any value to our lives? Without at least one of us giving some context to the situation -- that is, doing something to signify, say, "I am having a coffee and would like some company" -- this information doesn't mean a whole lot.

So how do we get past the point where all these social location services are just adding more social-network spam, and actually do something of value? First, the realization that location isn't the same as context. Location can help define context, but isn't its sole determinant. Adding location to a service is becoming easier, and will be increasingly commoditized. But context overall remains much harder. But is there a better way to do it than manual intervention on the part of the user?

For more discussion around this topic, be sure to check out our session on "The impact of context on mobile user experience, social & location" at Heroes of the Mobile Screen