Life360: Adds 1 million users in 10 weeks!

Life 360 is a geolocation tool that first came up after the hurricane Katrina to help people find their relatives after the disaster.

I did not know about this geolocation tool because it is not as big as Foursquare but their purpose was really good when they created it.

Today, they needed to come up with an innovative idea to make new users join their network. So they decided to focus on the relationship between parents and children.

With this tool the children just have to check-in their position on the map so that their parents know that they got to their destination safely and also what is their destination!!

After explaining their new concept they gained 1 million users more in just 10 weeks!! So we believe that worked pretty well, don’t you think!

In my opinion, I would think that very few parents use this tool but just young people who heard about Life 360 and so they wanted to try it. When I go somewhere and my parents want to be reassured they ask me to send them a text message to tell them where I am and that I am safe. A text message is the easiest way to let them know. Not everybody has 3G in their phone especially our parents!

What do you think about that? Even if their idea is innovative and very good, do you think that they are mostly parents/children using it? Or just young people communicating with their friends? Would your parents ask you to check-in when you get to a place?

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/check-ins_are_dead_location_app_life360_adds_1_mil.php

Terror Alerts Through Facebook and Twitter

Last Thursday news came up on the Internet about the government.

I guess everybody already saw that Terrorist alert in the airports or important governmental places. They use code colors like this one on the picture.

First, they decided that they were going to change it with an easiest one including just two levels of warnings: elevated and imminent. This should start on the April 27^th.

But the other part of the article is most important for us. They decided to post those alerts on Facebook and Twitter.

This news is another example showing that social media networks are everywhere. It is obvious that publishing the alerts on these websites will be much more efficient. I was usually aware of those terrorist alerts when I was going into airports, but I really did not know until then that we were under an alert.

Homeland security also said that they will publish not only the alert and its level but also an expiration date. For example it will say: “elevated terror alert until the April 18^th”. So that people know exactly what is going on and how to be prepared for that. For people like me, traveling as much as I do, those alerts are important because the checking point in the airports always take so much time when we are under an alert. So knowing in advance that there is a terrorist alert going on, will allow me to leave earlier and avoid missing my flight.

What a better way to communicate information as fast and towards a very important number of people than social media websites like the famous Facebook and Twitter!

Geolocation Tools and Real Estate

This morning I read the interview of Matthew Shadbolt, Corcoran’s director of interactive marketing. Corcoran is a real estate group based in New York City.

I found it very interesting that they use social media tools for their business. They use geolocation tools like Foursquare and Gowalla to offer to their clients tips about the neighborhood. Corcoran differentiates itself from its competitors with those kinds of tools by seeing an apartment not just with 4 walls but with the neighborhood where it is located.

They provide detailed information with the “what’s nearby” concept. They give recommendations for nightlife, shopping, restaurants and more content about the neighborhood.

They created that on an Iphone App so that clients can have access to their tips wherever they want and whenever they need them. Corcoran focuses on sharing local expertise rather than on the traditional way of meeting customers in their own offices, that is why tools like Foursquare work perfectly. As it is new, it is more fun and attractive for them; they want to try this innovation.

Besides, today people are in a hurry all the time and setting up a meeting for hours describing what do they want it is not so convenient. This application allows them to get information whenever they want and as soon as they find a minute to check it.

Matthew Shadbolt said “Our almost 1,000 tips around New York have proven very popular with our over 5,000 followers, and it’s been a very powerful and fun way to grow our brand presence”.

I think this new way to use social media tools for real estate industry is brilliant and successful. As I said, people don’t really want to waste their time to meet real estate agents for hours; so that this application can help them to find everything they want thanks to the tips on the neighborhood and local expert recommendations.

This is new for now, but it is going to become a necessary and very helpful tool in the future.

When I was looking for an apartment in Lyon, which is a pretty big city for France, this tool would have helped me so much in my research, and I would have found one probably quickly than in the traditional way… What do you think about this app?

Interview: http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2011/03/29/can-geolocation-tools-put-real-estate-professionals-on-the-map/