The concept of using RSS feeds to keep up-to-date on any topic is certainly nothing new. However, the idea of Geo-feeds and location-based is one that is yet to be fully explored. And I’m not referring to subscribing to news content or social media updates based on current events in your city or what your local friends have posted on facebook. Rather, what if I subscribed to a feed that provides me with information that is being uploaded and posted in my neighborhood? Are there photos within a 5 mile radius uploaded to the Flickr for me to see? Has someone recently posted a review of a restaurant just down the block, or if reviews were posted regarding a movie currently playing at your local movie theatre? Or what if tweets were posted about an event happening within your community? What if you were in the market for a home in a specific area and a seller just posted property?
One may ask what the utility of subscribing to such Geo-Feeds and/or Location-based services, but stopping to think about the possibility for such services provides markets with new opportunities in this space, and is clearly an indicator of mobile innovation.
Again, mobile versions of Yelp and Facebook are available for one to log in and check updates either directly or their email, and twitter is certainly one step closer to bring you updates of friends via text tweets, but I feel that the real future of connective services is through that of a Perceptive Network, one that provides individuals with relative updates based on where they are and what they are doing at any given time.
If your geo-feed is enabled to receive automated parameters (such as your location via GPS on your phone, your login information for Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter all through one global openID), it could then send you immediate updates that apply to where you are, and based your preferences.
So the next time you are in downtown SF and your friends are strolling down Union Square, taking photos at the Westfield, shopping on Market Street, or meeting up with someone you know at the BART station on Powell, your perceptive network will know as the result of searching your own personal networks online for information relating to your local area.
For additional thinking fodder, check out Faris’ articles on The Invisible Web, as well as Hanna Beyenbach’s article on Location-based services. Both of these intentionally are just scratching the surface on this topic.
Happy future gazing :)
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