I was pleased to be featured–among others, including my friend Steve Garfield–on page one of the Boston Globe this morning. The Beth Teitell article, “Virtual tracking fosters real-life connections,” takes a look at a few local users of foursquare, one of many growing location-based services (LBS), and how their social check-in routines have created opportunities to meet folks they might not otherwise have encountered. It gave a glimpse at my perspective, and the opportunity and risks the app presents.

In the grand scheme, I was an early adopter of foursquare, and it quickly found a comfortable home among my own personal family of social apps. Like any member of the family, it’s certainly not without its faults and, especially recently, has experienced some growing pains, but still I remain loyal. In the early days, I checked in everywhere I went, and found myself climbing the foursquare leaderboard most weeks. But while some of the gaming elements of foursquare were initially appealing, the minimal draw of acquiring points quickly lost its luster for me. Still, some bizarre sense of pride remained in capturing and maintaining certain mayorships, but even that practice quickly focused only on those establishments that had created foursquare specials of real value to me (i.e. Ben & Jerry’s). So, while I’m a frequent customer of Starbucks, becoming and staying mayor there really isn’t important to me because they have yet to create a special that delivers any real incentive or reward. Should that change, you could see me vying for the crown at my local ‘bucks…or the one near my friend and LBS guru, SchneiderMike.

So, I’ve clearly adjusted my foursquare use over time, but my overall motivation hasn’t changed since I first signed up and logged on. I’m in it for the connections. When I consider checking in, I’m asking myself the following questions:

1. Could I find a friend or colleague at this location?
I’m an independent consultant. So, while I have a home office, my workplace is often mobile. When I work in downtown Boston–usually twice a week or so–I like to find opportunities to co-work or to meet a friend or colleague over coffee or lunch to share ideas or conjure a new project. I might even find a new friend or colleague that’s looking for the same.

2. Do I want my social network to know I’ve been here?
If I visit a location or event that’s related to my business or industry, I want folks to know that. It helps my network know the contributions I’m making and generate some interest in my work. And it helps my network learn a little more about me and my routines, helping to further build those relationships I’ve worked so hard to foster.

3. Will checking in improve my experience here?
If there’s an opportunity for valuable networking, I want to take it. If there’s a foursquare special that would help me save some money, I want to redeem it. If checking in will help me connect with others in my location and turn a routine stop into a new adventure, I’m game.

If I find myself answering yes at least once, I’m very likely to check in. So…”What about the risk of sharing your location so publicly?,” some ask. I say, be smart about it. As a woman, I’m perhaps a bit more cautious about how I connect with people and check in than many of my male friends who are frequent foursquare users. That said, I have friends–male and female–with very diverging opinions on how to connect on location-based apps. Personally, when it comes to LBS platforms, I choose only to friend folks with whom I’ve had some form of previous connection. I’ve either met them personally or have had online interaction with them on Twitter or elsewhere. I don’t see a need to connect further with someone on a service that shares my location until we’ve had at least that much experience with each other first. And I’m thoughtful about how and when I share my location. If there’s any question of security or risk, I just don’t check in. The social experience isn’t worth putting myself or others at personal risk.

By and large, I’ve seen some early benefits of foursquare and other LBS platforms like Facebook Places (which just doesn’t seem to like my Android phone), Gowalla (beautiful and engaging interface), Loopt (promising events feature), Pegshot (share photos and videos tied to location), Scvngr (challenge-based), Whrrl (connects you with friends’ recommendations) and others. But, above and beyond any of their respective functionality, their collective potential is the most appealing feature of LBS.

The location category is hot and growing, but the real success of these platforms will come as more businesses, large and small, recognize their value and start tapping into it. The creation of foursquare specials for check-ins and mayorships is just the tip of the iceberg, though for the record, it’s the relative low-hanging fruit that many need to start picking to catapult some momentum for the rest. As businesses start leveraging location to learn more about their customers’ buying habits, they too will build the connections that I and many others are seeking when we check in. And they’ll reap the rewards…far more than any superusers and their discounted frappuccinos.

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