LinkedIn Gets the Ball Rolling

 

Well all this updating, linking, poking, tweeting, sharing, posting, and friending my pay off for some lucky investors. Social media may be the new upswing in the economy.

 

LinkedIn, a professionals social media, went public on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday as "LNKD" and sold shares starting at $45 apiece selling 4,827,804 shares from the corporation and 3,012,196 shares from selling stock holders. Today that makes LinkedIn worth $4.3 billion. Yes, with a B. And other social networking companies are looking to follow such as Facebook and Groupon.

Lots of people are saying this could be the beginning of another "dot come era" or bubble like back in the '90s and venture capitalists are excited to start backing well-established companies and start making some money.

Foursquare ain't no hopscotch

Would you like to check in on Foursquare?

No, it's not a game, it's a geographical locater social media application.

This way you can see if your friends are out on the town, at home or in the little cafe you happen to be passing. Businesses communities can utilize it too seeing where people are at conventions or events.

Say you check in at a restaurant and really like the calamari appetizer, you can "leave a tip" about that restaurant for your friends, recommending that dish. Same goes for stores if you've had a good or bad service experience and what's a "must see" at that convention.

Or maybe you're checked in at the grocery store and your mom, who happens to be on Foursquare, needs you to get something, boom, she knows you're there and can make sure you get those eggs she needs.

You search for your current location, and "check in." If you don't find it, you can always add a venue. 




 It's really meant to be used with smart phones, but can be used with regular computers too, it's just more difficult to plan ahead to where you're going. 

Video tutorials- CNN Tech Team and Howcast 

 To find friends (because this really only works well with lots of people participating) you can link to your Google account, Facebook or Twitter.

If you check in at a venue the most, you become "mayor" of that venue. You can also get "badges" dreamt up by the creators of foursquare for things like regular workouts at your gym or being a local at your neighborhood coffee shop.

Many businesses will also leave "tips" which are discounts or deals for Foursquare users who check in at their location. (Good marketing!)

Some people think that posting where you are all the time is crossing the personal-information-on-the-internet line. I don't think so.  I think that if it becomes as popular as Twitter (which also has a locater option), then it could really be a valuable resource of recommendations and a way to keep up with friends in a more convenient way.