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Surprise? No One Likes Foursquare or the Rest of That Location-Based Baloney

by Amar Toor on November 4, 2010 at 12:00 PM

thumbs down badegIf you actually get a kick out of using location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla, you're part of a very small online minority. According to a recently released report from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, just 4-percent of online Americans share their locations with their friends and family. Only 7-percent of people who access the Web from their cell phones regularly check in -- meaning that, on an average day, just 1-percent of the entire online community uses location-based services. Young users, however, appear to be comparatively more open to the idea of sharing their whereabouts online, but the paltry 8-percent of 18- to 29-year olds who consistently hunt for badges isn't an exactly encouraging figure, either.

Maybe users aren't comfortable with telling the rest of the world where they are, or maybe location-based apps aren't "social" enough. Whatever the reason, Americans simply haven't warmed up to the idea. And frankly, we're not at all surprised.

Tags: app, FourSquare, Gowalla, Location, location-based, PewInternetAndAmericanLifeProject, PewResearchCenter, SocialNetworking, study, top

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