Comments on: What Facebook Local Could Look Like

By: roycehadden

roycehadden — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:09:28 +0000

Re-post from Brazen Careerist, where I first found your blog:

I loved this post... the restaurant listings, ratings, business reviews, etc. that you suggest are no-brainers. Good implementation there would be a huge win. I personally use Google Maps and then check user reviews as my primary form of local ratings right now. I could easily see Facebook co-opting this local review function if they made an effort.
I also completely agree that the big missed opportunity right now is local events and business promotion. The place I see this happening best on a local scale is actually on Twitter. Check out these examples from my local area in Santa Monica: the Rustic Canyon / Huckleberry restaurant and Pourtal Wine Bar
Rustic's Twitter inspired me to a dinner there just this week... that's what I call effective local advertising.

This was great reading, keep em coming.

By: roycehadden

roycehadden — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:09:28 +0000

By: Apple Should Buy Tumblr — rikin on the web - Fresh Thoughts On Digital Media, Marketing, and Technology

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:24:23 +0000

[...] post is one of several speculative pieces. I think it is important to not settle for status quo and search for opportunities that might have [...]

By: rikin

rikin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:27:59 +0000

I think foursquare would be a great partner. Not so into it myself
just yet but I can see the utility it provides.

I think, like Kareem said, mobile is the key to owning local and
foursquare has definitely leveraged that.

If facebook got their hands on it do you think it would lose some of
its charm?

By: Elisa Doucette

Elisa Doucette — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:57:07 +0000

I think this is a much more logical progression for Facebook than the more global takedown they seem to be attempting. I completely accept and understand that different people use Facebook for different things, but for the Friend-Feedy type functions that Facebook seems to be attempting to branch out into…well those folks ALREADY use different tools, and Facebook serves a very localized and personal niche to their arsenal of social media.

I personally would live to see much of the things you are proposing, I think it would enhance the Facebook environment immensely. If they are on a program acquisition frenzy, my question would be why don't they look at #foursquare?

By: rikin

rikin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:25:19 +0000

Good point, mobile is definitely a huge area of growth for Facebook. I think Facebook could easily give Yelp, Urbanspoon, and even Yahoo & Google a run for their money when it comes to creating location aware applications. I use Google mobile constantly to find things nearby as well as Yelp and Urbanspoon for restaurants.

Why not see things nearby that my friends recommended and shared? If this happened, I'd guess FourSquare would be more than a little worried about their longevity.

By: Internet » Facebook Local — rikin on the web - Fresh Thoughts On Digital ...

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:22:55 +0000

[...] [...]

By: kareemk

kareemk — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:30:58 +0000

Thanks for the mention Rikin!

Facebook is definitely sitting on a huge opportunity in local. Just this week two local businesses, a restaurant and pool hall, both were pushing their facebook pages aggressively.

I also think that hyperlocal, by its essence, needs to include mobile and given facebook's popularity on mobile devices imagine the possibilities if it made the apps location aware...