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?
I know my parents would prefer a phone call or text far more than if I checked into a place. It's a great concept I just wonder how many parents would actually use it. Yes, it allows parents to know whether their children are actually at the movies like they said versus a friend's house party. Would kids still exploit the system? Most likely. However, I think in times of emergencies these location based sites and applications are going to be so pivotal.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting approach to location-based social media. Right off the bat, thinking from a marketers point of view, you assume location-based media to serve as a marketing tool for coupons, discounts, awareness of your brand, etc. But this is an interesting new view on it. I think it is a good idea to target parents and children because this could be a very practical way for parents to monitor their kids and make sure they are have made it safely to their destination. I think the parents would probably enjoy this site more than the kids, though!
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is an interesting concept but I would also worry about the safety of using it. Would strangers be able to see where these children would be checking in? Also, it could be an additional way for kids to deceive their parents on their whereabouts. I agree with Lainey that location based sites should be more targeted towards adults than kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about this new concept. At first, I thought it seemed interesting and a way for parents and children to communicate. But I do see flaws to this. The biggest one would be lying. It would be easy for a kid to say there checking into a place, how would the parent know? Amanda Newman brings up a good point about whether or not the check-in's are private or not. Strangers should not know where kids are hanging out! Overall, it seems like a bigger hassle to me then to just send a simple text or to call someone. Obviously it's getting attention though so I'm curios how popular Life 360 will get with parents and their kids.
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