Media in the New Millennium

Posted by Elaine Ellis

As a profession, PR seems to be late adapters to pretty much everything Web 2.0. So I hope this time around we get our acts together when it comes to mobile social networks or Where 2.0.

One of my personal favorites is Foursquare, created by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai. You check in when you’re having drinks at a bar, perusing a museum or grabbing dinner, and can also see if your friends are checked into anywhere close by. What makes this one sticky is that you get points based on how often and where you check in. If you check in somewhere new, you get more points. If you check in after 5 pm, you get more points. Each city they’re currently based in also ranks you amongst your friends and the rest of the city. You also earn badges based on where and how frequently you’re checking in. It sounds lame until you’ve earned the Playa, Please badge. Or maybe even after you’ve won the Playa, Please badge. Plus, you can also be named Mayor based on the number of check ins you have. There is something about being named Mayor that makes it fun, there is something about stealing Mayor from one of your friends that makes it even more fun.

As a marketer, you have two great opportunities here. You can check to see if Foursquare would let you sponsor a badge. Or even better, you can honor your Mayor with free stuff and incentives. Think of mobile social networks as the new electronic card. Your check-ins equate your loyalty. Here in Boulder, it now seems like all the restaurants and bars are on Twitter but using Foursquare is a chance for these companies to reach early adopters. Metzger Associates did a contest for one of our clients where we offered a free meal to the mayor. Dennis and his team are actively looking for places to reward their mayors so send them an e-mail at team at playfoursquare.com if you’re interested.

Another favorite mobile social network is BrightKite. It doesn’t have the badges or competitive spirit of Foursquare, but does afford you the opportunity to keep track of your friends and people nearby. Users can also post pictures. If you’re a company, say Home Depot, don’t you want to know when customers post messages like this? Same thing as Twitter. You need to monitor and pay attention.

Other sites like Whirrl offer companies the chance to tell stories like that of the Yim Gnome.

So this time, start paying attention early to mobile social networks.