Checking Out Those Check-In Apps.

We are all used to checking in at hotels or airports but what about on your phone? What about checking into your favorite TV show or winery 24 hours a day? With new applications offered online and on smart phones, everyone can advertise their location or what they're doing at all times. Four years ago people were so skeptical about privacy issues that they wouldn't even use their real name on Facebook. Now, people are jumping at the chance to notify their friends of their exact location throughout the day.

Programs, such as GetGlue, now allow consumers to indirectly interact with actors, musicians, or authors whenever they want. Take, for example, an 18 year old boy and his favorite TV star. Traditional social networking sites allow for a simple two-way communication between the product (in this case, the star) and the boy. GetGlue, on the other hand, lets this person advertise what he is doing by "tagging" the star he is watching at that moment. After the boy "checks into" his favorite TV actor, he can send in reviews about the show, make comments concerning the actor, or even look up recommendations he might like based on who he has checked into in the past.

Right now, these programs look as if they are still in the beginning stages. They have gone one step further than Twitter or other social networking sites but they need more distinguishing features that will separate them even more. Also, they haven't fully utilized their potential for advertisements.

In my opinion, another social networking site that doesn't offer much more than interaction will quickly fade into the background of new and exciting applications. So many copycat sites are popping up that consumers are facing clutter and repetition - two things that often bore the multitaskers of this day and age. If, however, GetGlue and others like it begin to gain a following, advertisers need to jump on this band wagon while they still can. If consumers are used to being faced with advertisements from the beginning, there won't be such an outcry against it.