I think we may have to agree to disagree on this, only because I believe that there is a huge potential for mobile communities. Gen ‘Way-Younger-Than-Me’ consumers are completely on their phones and I strongly think, while they may not want push notifications all the time, they would definitely be up for getting a freebie at their favorite store. And they are probably more used to it than us curmudgeons

At any rate, it’s an experiment, right? And like Google Wave (bleh) we’ll see how it all plays out.

I guess my point, beside reveling in my role as an old curmudgeon, is that with all the privacy concerns that current Facebook and past Google ventures have caused, why would anyone take away one more wall of privacy by broadcasting their location?

I see that there is a “get it” quality that needs to sink in, ala twitter, facebook, etc., but this one seems to cross a line which is fundamentally different. While I think there will always be an audience of folks who think of themselves as needing to be in a community – even a specious community based around the Starbucks they happen to be getting their daily triple mocha, double shot, latte – i think this will be a very limited audience and thus having very limited marketing potential. (Sure, if I am in a bookstore and let the world know, i may get coupons for a book zapped to my iphone… but after being inundated just a few times I will turn off that feature.)

Foursquare annoys me because it puts a gaming spin on what is essentially Google Latitude. But in the end, consumers will see the fundamental loss of privacy as not very fun and possibly quite irritating. I wouldn’t want to be the marketer on the wrong side of that issue.

Interestingly enough, there’s a new feature that 4sq (I keep typing ‘$sq’ which is probably more accurate) is beta testing that involves creating a ‘private’ location for you and your friends. I imagine that would be your home, a fun hangout, the bonfire w/ Milwaukee’s Worst, what-have-you.

The link is here: http://foursquare.com/add_venue

Fred Wilson was eloquent today in his Publishing Pt talk about how companies need to respect their audiences expectations re: sharing. Twitter, for example, is totally public. Users know this, no problem. Facebook’s been having troubles b/c they’re trying to move from private to public. For Fred Wilson, however, 4sq is a more ‘private’ platform (at least as he uses it, within his small circle of family/close friends). 4sq makes it easy to dictate exactly which circle of public/private you’re sharing the info with.

I think perceived problems w/4sq have to do with people experimenting with the service and blasting out meaningless 4sq shares on Twitter. It’s the same perception problem twttr had in early days. If you’re not using it, you don’t get it.