The State of Location-based Social Media in 2015

The Plague app shares posts based on proximity.

Remember when location-based services, LBSs, were going to be the next big thing? When nearly all the GIS companies focused acquisitions, development and hiring to be ready? When new publications came online to cover it? As a datapoint consider that Directions Magazine acquired what became LBS360 in 2006, and shut it down a few years later.

Things change. Today GIS and general  technical publication rarely mention LBS. LBS still exists; it's just the important bit, location, is embedded within other apps and services, notably, social media ones. What is going on in location-based social media as 2015 opens its curtains?

Two Questions for Tuesday

Two geographic questions plagued me on Monday.

The most recent On the Media (from National Public Radio) is all about Facebook and its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). One of the experts, who wrote about the company, refers to the company in the context of a country. She calls it "Facebookistan." Here's a challenge for geographers of all ages: In how many ways is Facebook like a country? In how many ways is it different? I think that'd make a great essay question!

The other question relates to a tweet I saw Monday morning. Here's the full text of it.

City launches new #GIS that uses #ESRI web #map s and apps: ow.ly/8TCh8 via @emtpej

The original tweet, and this version, are from individuals involved in EMS. The odd thing about these messages?  The lack of a city name/location. Does it matter which city? Apparently not. Why not? Are all cities about the same to those of us in the business? I find that lack of location of the city, when discussing its use of location technology both ironic and a bit meta. The city, by the way, is Southland, Michigan. Maybe the authors could not easily determine that in the article in Hometown Life. That online paper does not make "which hometown" it's talking about very clear.