This post was written by Rob Reed. He is the founder of MomentFeed, a location-based marketing, strategy, and technology firm.
Location technologies are transforming how we experience, navigate, and ultimately better our world. From the global to the local, here are #10Ways geolocation is a positive force for good.
Social media has changed the world. It has revolutionized communications on a global scale, and the transformation continues with every status update, blog post, and video stream. The global citizenry has become a global network.
Since becoming widely adopted just a couple years ago, social media has supercharged social action, cause marketing, and social entrepreneurship. Indeed, the true value hasn’t been the technology itself but how we’ve used it. Today, a second wave of innovation is defining a new era and setting the stage for change over the coming decade.
Mobile technologies will extend the global online network to anyone with a mobile device while enabling countless local networks to form in the real world. We’ve decentralized media production and distribution. We’re doing the same for energy. And we’ll continue this trend for social networking, social action, and commerce.
The combined forces of smartphones, mobile broadband, and location-aware applications will connect us in more meaningful ways to the people, organizations, events, information, and companies that matter most to us—namely, those within a physical proximity of where we live and where we are. Can location-based services (LBS) change the world? Here are #10Ways:
1. Checking in for Good: If Gowalla and Foursquare have taught us anything, it’s that people respond to simple incentives. By offering badges, mayorships, and other intangible rewards, millions of people are checking in to the places they go. Apps like Whrrl take this a step further and enable like-minded “societies” to form on a local basis. The next step is for these apps to add greater purpose by encouraging more meaningful checkins and offering corresponding badges and stamps, thus mapping the cause universe. Or for a dedicated app to be developed that rewards conscious consumption, social responsibility, and civic engagement. Yes, the CauseWorld app features a cause element, but it’s not about cause-worthy places.
2. Eating Locally: Sustainability demands that we source our food as close to its point of production as possible. Many so-called locavores subscribe to the 100-mile diet, which requires that one “eat nothing—or almost nothing—but sustenance drawn from within 100 miles of their home.” Given the difficulty of accessing and verifying this information in order to live by this standard, there’s a geo-powered Locavore app. It gives you info on in-season foods, those coming in-season, farmer’s markets, and links to recipes. This rather simple app is clearly just the start. In time, location-aware apps will guide us not only to the grocery store or farmer’s market but through them. All the while identifying foods based on our particular diet or sensibility.
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The upcoming Geo-Loco conference has one question for attendees: Is Location a Business or Feature?
We’ll be attending the first annual Geo-Loco conference in San Francisco on July 21st of this month. The event will focus on the intersection of marketing and location-based services (LBS) such as Foursquare and Gowalla. Organizers of the event describe geolocation as “the next big thing in advertising, social media, and discovery,” and we couldn’t agree more. This is the new frontier, and it is evolving at warp speed.
The question posed by the organizers is a common refrain when it comes to new and emerging technologies. The excitement and newness can be blinding, so it’s essential to delineate between features, benefits, products, and full-on businesses. We should keep in mind, however, that these can be dynamic states that change over time.
We initially asked the same question of social networking. Indeed, in 2007, Sergey Brin dismissed Facebook as a feature not a product. At the time, he may have been right. Today, Facebook is doing more than just proving it’s a business. It is challenging Google’s dominance. By the same token, Facebook is a helluva lot more than a social network.
As we consider this fundamental question, it ought to be viewed through the lens of creating and sustaining meaningful value—not to mention doing so from a defensible position. If a feature does that, then it’s quite likely a product and quite possibly a business.
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I’ve often said that the environmental movement needs convenient actions, not inconvenient truths. Said differently, many of us have a sincere ‘will’ to change our planet, but are not not sure of the most effective ‘way’ to do so. When you couple this with the environmental preachers out there, who are quick to chastise us – it’s not surprising that there is a sense of apathy. The more ardent campaigners find it hard to understand why the majority of us are not more environmentally contentious – yet for most of us, environmental conscientiousness competes against a plethora of other forces within our daily lives.
In addition, there is often disagreement about how one should act. If we try to be green, yet we’re still criticized, it can lead to people giving up trying, rather than trying harder. If we hear rumors that hybrid vehicles are actually less efficient, because of the dangerous chemicals in their batteries, or the increased energy consumed to build them – whether this is true or not – it can lead to a sense of hopelessness. If we’re told that we shouldn’t fly, yet we have family or work abroad, it often merely serves to make people give up trying, rather than flying.
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The combination of smartphone technology and mobile broadband have lead to a brave new world of opportunity and possibility. It’s nothing short of a panacea. This is Internet 2.0.
It’s been more than a year since we wrote about the New and Improved Matrix, a discussion about the paradigm shift of being perpetually connect wherever we are and how the Web is being applied to the actual world. These trends are being driven and accelerated by the proliferation of smartphone technology and mobile broadband. It represents a tremendous opportunity, to be sure, but most still don’t realize its true magnitude. To get a better feel for what’s to come, it helps to understand the landscape and what is really happening in the market.
Though we’ve heard about the “mobile web” for many years, there wasn’t much excitement about its immediate potential. One could envision the day when accessing the web from mobile devices would create new opportunities, mostly in advertising. Then along came smartphones (mini computers) and mobile broadband. Naturally, people assumed this would lead to increased use of the mobile web. This amounts to not seeing the forest for the trees.
A recent Fortune interview with the CEO of Ericsson highlights how even industry leaders largely missed this:
Wireless phone companies and equipment manufacturers totally underestimated the potential of their own industry, says Ericsson (ERIC) CEO Hans Vestberg. Now he and his company are preparing for a totally interconnected world in which billions of consumers — and machines — talk non-stop to one another via wireless networks.
It’s not about the mobile web. It’s about something entirely different.
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April 2nd marks the start of the Max Gladwell New Year. It is our second anniversary and the first day of MG 02. First, we look back on the year that was MG 01.
The Max Gladwell calendar resets tomorrow and marks the start of a new year. The last 12 months have been interesting to say the least. It feels like part of a larger transition phase on many levels…economically, politically, and technologically. Health Care reform passed by no small miracle. The tech hype centered around the iPad, and the economy is getting back on track, albeit more slowly than most would prefer.
At the start of MG 01, we wrote up 10 Predictions for the New Year. In this reflection post, we’ll review those and see where we got it right and where we were perhaps too optimistic or naive.
1. We said, “We’ll pull out of the recession and start to thrive by year’s end (MG 01).” At that time, we were just starting to see the green shoots of a recovery. It’s pretty clear that the recession is technically over, but it’s far from thriving. We’re experiencing a jobless recovery. Wall Street and the tech sector have gotten back to business, but the rest of the nation is still struggling with double-digit unemployment in many states. The nation needs a major shot in the arm from cleantech and broadband (terrestrial and mobile) to encourage sustainable job growth. Nevertheless, we accurately predicted that any sign of a housing recovery amounted to a false bottom, as the market continues to decline in nearly every region of the country. We won’t see a bottom until some time in 2011 (MG 03), and even then it will be flat thereafter. Renting will be economically preferable for some time.
2. We said, “We’ll take meaningful action on climate change.” Alas, health care reform dominated the legislative agenda. Meanwhile, the global recession has undermined the support and sense of urgency with regard to the carbon problem. The best way to get back on track is to first solve unemployment and return to solid economic growth. Many would argue that a climate change bill that prices carbon will naturally have this effect, and we agree. But it won’t happen quickly enough to gain the support such action requires.
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Editor’s note: We’re pleased to welcome Arun Mathur of Smart Grid Citizen as a new guest blogger. 
This is an exciting space with tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs. Thousands of smart meters are being installed and activated every day. We’ll see plenty of innovative approaches to utilizing them in the coming years.
In the 20th century the goal was to electrify America. Electricity was to be made widely available, reliable, and cheap. Today, as we approach the limits of our current power generation and distribution infrastructure, the focus has shifted to making our energy ecosystem greener and more efficient. Welcome to the smart grid.
With 40% of total energy consumption coming from the residential market, getting consumers to reduce their consumption, particularly during peak times, is an important part of the energy efficiency equation.
In What’s in Store for Consumers, I presented a long list of home energy management (HEM) solutions. The mechanisms used to influence our energy consumption behavior vary with each solution, however they all fundamentally start by giving us better information that we can hopefully act upon. And, that’s a good thing. Consumers cannot consistently conserve energy without a better understanding of their current energy consumption profile.
The effectiveness of these solutions will be measured on many levels, but I posed two critical questions for which all of these solutions will eventually require verifiable answers:
- How effectively can the solution meet a desired cost/benefit value proposition?
- For how long can the solution sustain its positive influence over our energy consumption behavior?
Thus far, amidst a bevy of players touting their high-tech wizardry, OPOWER may be the only company holding a pair of aces. And, they’re succeeding in engaging consumers in a distinctly low-tech way.
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Max Gladwell is nominated for two of TreeHugger’s “Best of Green 2010″ Reader’s Choice awards. We need your votes.
We’re honored to be nominated for TreeHugger’s “Best of Green 2010” Reader’s Choice awards in the Culture & Celebrity and Science and Technology categories. Last year, we won for Best Social Media Site. This year’s format is reader’s choice with a voting period that will last through April 2nd. Max Gladwell is nominated for the following (on which you can vote daily):
Best Blog Covering Environmental Culture
Best Twitter Feed for Sci-Tech
We’re in great company with fellow nominees Grist, WorldChanging, The Daily Green, and ecorazzi. Interestingly enough, two of the four participated in our #10Ways blogging experiment last year. It’s also worth noting that the Best of Green voting ends on the Max Gladwell New Year.
Thanks to everyone for your support. As we go into the final weeks of MG01, we’ll be reflecting on the past year and looking forward to MG02. The landscape of social media and sustainability is shifting, driven by mainstream adoption, shifts in public opinion, the impacts of the Great Recession, and the new frontier of geolocation. These are the topics that will shape our coverage of the year ahead, and we look forward to having you involved.
Perhaps the search giant should have called it Google Drama? The controversy over Google’s latest social media product continues.
Our initial review of Google Buzz concluded that it was a worthy effort in theory but that the brand and execution were lacking. With only a week’s worth of hindsight, we can say that it was quite the understatement.
The tech blogs have been buzzing at a fever pitch over the myriad privacy concerns and potential violations. Meanwhile, Google is scrambling to address them amid threats of an FTC investigation. Two of the more recent articles from Michael Arrington and FastCompany capture the essence of the issue and largely support our position.
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Note: Max Gladwell founder Rob Reed was interviewed for the following American Express Open Forum story on the emerging geolocation trend. It reflects our evolved positioning and the direction we’ll be taking with our coverage and consulting.
by Leah Betancourt
Small businesses stand to increase their local audience and further their market reach through geolocation platforms, which attach real-world locations to mobile phones. Here are a few ways companies can become part of the location tagging world of social media.
Late last year, Twitter launched geolocation for tweets. The microblogging service also recently rolled out Local Trends, which makes geolocated tweets trending topics.
Other location services such as BrightKite, Gowalla and Loopt allow users to check in at locations, and the ability to share that activity among a network of friends.
On February 9th , Google announced its new social media platform Buzz that is tied to a user’s Gmail account and has location-tagging options. For example, the Buzz nearby mobile feature serves up a list about places, and users can read Buzz info about those places from others who are both in and outside their networks.
Foursquare allows for check-ins and has a gaming element in which users earn badges and can work their way to become the “mayor” of their favorite locations. MyTown also allows for check-ins and rewards as a gaming element.
Dina Meek, owner of a social media consulting firm for small businesses called Big Buzzness said these types of platforms are essentially cheap or free for small businesses – for the moment, at least.
“It’s absolutely something they can tap into and be ready (for),” she said.
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When a business proposition tries to do too much for too many, it can tend to do very little for very few.
There are a number of principles we apply in shaping business ideas, models, and strategies. We’ve written about the importance of focus in terms of marketing. It’s also essential that the model and value proposition to be equally focused.
Quite simply, the best business models do one thing. They have a narrow offering with a broad appeal. You’re looking for the one thing that just about everyone needs or can benefit from. Flickr is a place to store, organize, and share all of your photos online. That’s the one thing it does, and it’s valuable to pretty much everyone. It’s not a one-stop-shop for all of your digital photography needs.
Then there’s Google. It does this one thing—search—that everyone needs. Yes, Google does many things and recently made another push into social media, but it only expanded after it’s search engine redefined the search market. Plus, Google only makes money on search, and most people who use Google only use search. In fact, there is a small percentage of the online population that has no idea what “search” means because they’ve come to know it as Googling.
The power of doing one thing that everyone (or a large percentage of everyone) needs is that you’re message is easily communicated, the market potential can be quite large, and you can establish deep and lasting brand affinities.
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