Katie Wall

You may be checking into locations – but are you checking in to experiences yet? If not, you should definitely check out GetGlue.

GetGlue is a social network which allows users to check in to TV shows, movies, music and books, and see what their friends are consuming in real time. And though it has just under 1 million users, it’s growing fast. Now, GetGlue is stepping it up a notch by not only integrating with Foursquare, the popular geo-location platform, but also by  giving users the ability to check in to sporting events.

Sports check-ins have already proved their popularity through test programs like Foursquare’s 2011 Super Bowl Sunday check-in, where over 200,000 people checked in, but have not been widely utilized until now. This new GetGlue function not only allows users to watch sporting events, but in a sense attend.

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As mobile camera capabilities continue to improve, the competition within the photo app marketplace is beginning to increase. Key players like Instagram and Picplz are taking strides toward expanding their reach and luring marketers with new features that allow brands to enter conversations and measure engagement. Mobile photo sharing is just one aspect of mobile-social media, but it will become more important for marketers to pay attention to in the coming year – especially as these platforms come of age and provide new opportunities for brands to talk to people in the ways that people are increasingly talking to each other.

Instagram

Instagram has been the early sweetheart of photo sharing apps. This free iPhone application allows users to edit pictures taken from their iPhone camera or through the Instagram application on their iPhone through 14 different filters. As the app rapidly approaches 2 million members and 300,000 photo uploads per day, it has released a new API which will allow developers to incorporate Instagram photos within their own applications, expanding the app’s reach additional mobile and web services beyond just the iPhone. Instagram also recently introduced a hashtag feature that brands can employ to more easily enter conversations with people in the Instagram community.

Picplz

PicPlz is following close on the heels of Instagram, offering a similar photo filtering system, with only 9 filters currently available. This week PicPlz announced a new publicly available API which works with other applications, allowing them to use PicPlz’s filters and widgets, and supporting users to publish their pictures under Creative Commons licenses and offering analytics dashboards for brands and advertisers who use the service. The analytics dashboard will help users with larger audiences track the activity of the content they are posting through Picplz.

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Google has revamped Latitude, introducing a new functionality that allows users the option to manually check in to Google Places locations. The Latitude platform was first introduced to help people stay in touch with family and friends by making it easy for them to share their location (via an automatic update). Though similar to how other location-based platforms work, Google Latitude’s new check-in feature offers a few unique experiences.

Image via Google

Per its previous functionality, Google Latitude can still be used to automatically update and share the user’s location, but the check-in feature allows the user to add context to their location — meaning photos, captions, comments and the like. (Related: Read our previous post on Foursquare’s comments and photos upgrade.) And, since Latitude was designed to use GPS to automatically detect a user’s location, the platform is able to offer check-in notifications which remind users to check in at nearby places.

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In our last Social Media Monday post of the month, we’re bringing you headlines from a Yahoo! study on mobile internet usage, news from Facebook Connect and more.

What is Your Mobile Experience?

A recent Yahoo study of 8,384 U.S. residents ages 13-64 showed that 5,313 were using mobile internet. Nine out of 10 mobile users have accessed mobile web while at a store (approximately 50% of in-store mobile activity was shopping related). 48% of in-store mobile use included taking and/or sending a picture of a product to a family member or friend.

Additionally, 86% of mobile internet users (92% of 13-24 year olds) are using mobile devices while watching television. Nearly a quarter of those mobile users said they were browsing content that was related to the show they are watching.

As the mobile internet experience continues to become increasingly popular, many platforms are making an effort to step up their mobile game. Facebook announced that in 2011 they will be making an effort to create a more consistent user experience across all of their platforms, including applications, their mobile site, touch-based site and 0.Facebook.com. This effort will also include making Facebook Places a more valuable social tool for their users.

Facebook Adds eHow to the Facebook Connect Roster

Last week I mentioned that Flickr was now letting users log-on from Facebook, and how eHow has mandated that their users connect via Facebook Connect. eHow has given its users until the end of the month before it will delete existing accounts and switch over to Facebook.

With more and more websites using Facebook Connect as their main form of log-in, do you think it can make the need for other usernames and passwords obsolete?

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It’s #socialmediamonday here at 360i! This week’s headlines include news from Flickr, Google and Tumblr. Read our summaries below to learn more, and follow @360i on Twitter to join the conversation.

Flickr Now Lets You Sign-in From Your Facebook Account

Right on the heels of Foursquare and Flickr integrating, Flickr has added a Facebook integration which allows users to sign on to Flickr through their Facebook account via Facebook Connect. Flickr hopes that the Facebook integration will make the photo-sharing site more accessible; however, users are still required to have a Yahoo! account associated with their primary Facebook email in order to use the Facebook log in feature on Flickr. In June of 2010, Flickr allowed users to log on to Facebook from within Flickr, now the opposite, logging on to Flickr through Facebook is available.

Where Flickr used to be more popularly utilized by photographers (both hobbyists and enthusiasts), do you think that Facebook connect will now broaden the spectrum of people using the platform?

Google to Launch Daily Deals via Google Offers

With the ever-rising popularity of online deals, discounts and vouchers, Google may be joining the game with the proposed launch of Google Offers. Google Offers is slated to rival other daily couponing programs such as Groupon and LivingSocial, by offering a daily deal which will be delivered to subscribers through e-mail. Much like the Groupon model, users will be offered the deals with the ability to pre-purchase products and services at a discount.

Image via Mashable

The Google Offers advantage lies not only in the magnitude of Google’s reach, but also in their advanced ability to tailor ads to customers. Google would not only be able to create custom deals for web users, but also through mobile advertising, and location-based information.

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Happy 2011 from all of us at 360i! The year begins with a new app that ranks content on Twitter, a  glimpse into what 20 minutes of Facebook activity looks like and a partnership between Foursquare and Flickr.

Does what you say on Twitter matter?

Researchers from MIT, the University of Southampton and Georgia Institute of Technology collaborated to build a platform called “Who Gives a Tweet.” This Twitter app allows users to anonymously rate Twitter users, with the hopes of reaching a better understanding of how tweets are perceived.

Though there are several apps that currently exist to rate social engagement on Twitter, the Who Gives a Tweet study is user-generated feedback that attempts to determine what content is considered valuable and what content is not. The app not only gives you feedback from your friends, but also gives you tweet feedback from people you do not know.

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Who’s checking in and who’s checking out?

There’s no denying the growth of location sharing over the past few years, but not without steep competition for the variety of mobile platforms vying for the top spot. The mobile phenomenon of location sharing emerged circa 2007 with platforms like Brightkite and has solidified itself as a stronghold in modern culture through platforms like Gowalla, Foursquare and now Facebook Places. As the location craze continues to grow, competing platforms have had to evolve and innovate new ways to draw in users, spanning from digital badges to discounts, deals and other loyalty rewards. (More on location-based networks in 360i’s POV on Mobile Social Marketing.)

This past week, check-in pioneer Brightkite officially checked out of the location wars, making them the first high-profile location based service to bow out of the race. Brightkite will continue to operate as an application but is shifting its focus to group texting, including photo and location sharing but without actual “checking in.”

In other location news, Foursquare surpassed the 5 million user mark this past week. Foursquare currently boasts the largest user base for a location based services, growing by about 25,000 users per day.  The average Foursquare user checks in 3-4 times per day, for a platform total of roughly 2 million daily check-ins.

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