Today the New York Times has a report on how "the mainstream" has been slow to latch onto the booming new geolocation trend flaunted by the likes of Google, Foursquare, Gowalla, Shopkick and, most recently, Facebook. As reporters Claire Cain Miller and Jenna Wortham explain, GeoLoco is the Next Big Thing that's sputtering a little at takeoff:
Venture capitalists have poured $115 million into location start-ups since last year, according to the National Venture Capital Association, and companies like Starbucks and Gap have offered special deals to users of such services who visited their stores.
But for all the attention and money these apps and Web sites are getting, adoption has so far been largely confined to pockets of young, technically adept urbanites. Just 4 percent of Americans have tried location-based services, and 1 percent use them weekly, according to Forrester Research. Eighty percent of those who have tried them are men, and 70 percent are between 19 and 35.
I just have to wonder why anyone would think that this technology would appeal to anyone but a younger demo. Interviews with a couple of thirtysomethings reveal a general reluctance to broadcast where they are at all times stemming from common-sense concerns about safety and security that come with the aging-out-of-early-adulthood process. Some over-30s are drawn to the Shopkick model, which offers discounts when shoppers check into certain retail outlets, but as for the rest of it, why would anyone want to share the personal stuff? As one mother admits, “We go to playtime, the park and the grocery store. My life isn’t exciting enough to broadcast where I am and what I do.”
It's that simple, really. When you're in your teens and your twenties, your social calendar is full. You're running around with loads of friends, hopping from one party/bar/restaurant/club/concert/dodgeball game/what-have-you to the next. The male-to-female ratio I can't explain—maybe girls are less nerdy about this stuff? More concerned about stalkers? More partial to text?—but as for the age disparity, come on already! Once you get to a certain point in your life, you have other things to worry about besides appointing yourself the Mayor of your local Dew Drop Inn. Like, if you're lucky, a job. And, luckier still, a significant other. And then there are kids. Even if you don't have them, your friends—the same ones you used to run around with, bar- and club- and party-hopping every night of the week when you were in your late teens and early twenties—definitely do. You now have to book these friends weeks in advance just to commit to a babysitter and meet you for an early-bird special. It's sad but true: Your social circle dwindles as you leave your twenties. You don't need to check in to find out where all your friends are—you're not hanging out together like you used to, you are all no longer so spontaneous, and when you do get together, it's usually the result of a plan.
But of course the Times has to turn this into yet another piece about how Old People Just Don't Get Newfangled Technology. "Location services are catching on more quickly with young people, who have grown up posting personal information online," they state. And then they quote some idiot who says, "The magic age is people born after 1981. That’s the cut-off for us where we see a big change in privacy settings and user acceptance.”
No, fella. People born after 1981 are under 30. They're the only ones a location service like Foursquare or Gowalla would appeal to. Has nothing to do with growing up with both thumbs glued to a glassy iPhone screen. Does anyone honestly think that once today's under-30s grow up, get married and start having kids that they'll still obsessively check in to see if any of their friends are at the day care center dropping off the little'uns, or at the Home Depot? My guess is that by the time today's Geo-Loco enthusiasts have reached that point, Geo-Loco as we know it now will be as hot as Friendster.
