Services like Foursquare and Gowalla are proving less than useful for most of the public.
Foursquare seems to be an apt name for “geosocial” service as Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that just 4% of online adults are using a location-based apps like Foursquare or Gowalla on their mobile phones, and on any given day, only 1% of Internet users have checked in. In comparison 24% use Twitter and FaceBook services up from 19% a year ago.
Pew’s report on the use of “geosocial” services – Geosocial is the new name that Pew have created for mobile location-based services that allow users to “check in” to a particular venue and see which of their friends are nearby.
According to the report men are significantly more likely than women to use a location-based services (6% of online men versus 3% of online women), and Hispanics (English- and Spanish-speaking) are more likely than other ethnic
groups to use these services (10% of online Hispanics do, compared to 3% of whites and 5% of blacks). There are no statistically significant differences by household income or educational attainment.
Location-based services such as Foursquare or Gowalla are significantly more popular with younger internet users; eight percent of online adults ages 18-29 use location-based services, significantly more than online adults in any other age group. Wireless internet users, unsurprisingly, are also more likely to use location-based services, especially those who connect to the internet with their cell phone. Seven percent of all adults who go online with their mobile phone say they use a location-based service, as well as 5% of all wireless internet users.
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