First//Look: BrightKite

In a world of shiny new things, BrightKite is the current top of the list. Beta invites are hard to get and new ones go quickly. So what is BrightKite all about? BrightKite is a social network that hinges on one key differentiating factor. It knows where you are. Users of the site update their locations (manually for now, but I could see GPS updates in the future) and share information with friends as well as other people in the same location.

The content on the site includes Twitter-esque messages about where you are/what you're doing and photography. One very limiting factor at this point is that BrightKite doesn't integrate with the content users are already creating on sites like Twitter and Flickr. BrightKite will push your updates to Twitter, and has a cool way of co-updating your Twitter location, but it still means that you have to create content twice. That's not going to happen in large numbers.

The idea of social, location-based networks aim to close the gap on contextual relevancy that has resulted in irrelevant information overload. I have found that proximity adds context and makes things more relevant to me. This is BrightKite's beta so I'm really looking forward to seeing how they evolve this and bring out more mobile consumption elements (iPhone app, BlackBerry app, proximity alerts, etc.). Advertisers will undoubtedly be perking up at the targeting ability that location brings. That's for another post. If you're on BrightKite make sure you add me.

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Key takeaways:

• Location-based social networks are growing in number and will be standard in the near future
  
• Location is manually updated, but will move to real-time, GPS-based updates when the technology catches up
  
• BrightKite has good privacy filters in place which is crucial for the promise of this level of off-line connectedness
  
• BrightKite does a good job of pushing its content out, but needs to do a better job of pulling it in
  
• Social media overlap (creating the same content more than once) is a growing problem and needs to be planned before sites get to launch stage
  
• Location-based ad targeting is a way to monetize this very quickly, but has to be in balance and aim to add value (like if I am standing in line at Wendy's it could offer me an immediate coupon)
  
• Mobile plays a large part in the success of this network and will for all social networks in the near-term
  
• Would love more consumption options on the phone (not just publishing) to get the most benefit from the service
  

If you know of a new service that you think I should take a look at drop me an email or leave a comment.

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Comments

[Rob Boles]

This most interesting thing about this network is that it is very focused on mobile posting. I'm extremely surprised at how quickly they came out with an iPhone Web app for this, and it is really helpful.

That being said ...

Beta Beta Beta. Mobile is huge for its success, but it does not currently work with Verizon, which is why I'm guessing we didn't see any mobile footage in this First Look. This HAS to be worked out.

I think once GPS is enabled the whole experience will be better. I've found that posting photos and comments while "on the scene" is a little cumbersome because of the numerous steps involved. One must figure out where one is, find that location within the mobile app on the iPhone (easier with the search feature) or more difficult, text it into BrightKite to "Check-in" to that location. Only then may one post a photo that appears in that specific place-stream on the site. The SMS commands are useful, but hopefully the possibilities there will expand.

I have to say it took a second for my feeble brain to grasp the concept of needing to check in to a location before I could do anything place-specific. I hope this isn't a metaphor hurdle for a lot of other people.

That being said, I do love posting photos from the CTA in Chicago and have it show up in the place-specific stream for anybody else who is there.

[Alan Wolk (Toad)]

Matt: As I messaged you from inside Bright Kite, I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the utility. Both you and Rob Boles (commenter above) did a great job of explaining the limitations and possiblities (automatic GPS) but it's still a rather cumbersome system.

I read somewhere (if I remember, I'll post) that a primary usage was supposed to be at conferences and other events where people would need to find each other and be interested to see what was going on in a specific location.

THough that seems like a very limited audience.

Not ruling it out, but it will need to evolve quite a bit to be useful to me.

[Jayne Dow (MeJayne)]

Those followiong my Twitter stream this weekend good taste of how this tool integrates nicely with Twitter as I broadcast play-by-play of a friend's wedding weekend. I had a friend say “it was like I was there”. Tip: keep your checked in location generic to city and use the subject line to identify where you are specifically when you post pictures. Picture updates sent via email becomes a one step post on both Brightkite and Twitter.

So, if lifecasting is the gig - this is one tool to add. Not certain how marketers are going to be able to utilize it; with Twitter that was much more intuitive. However, will be good to watch where users adopt/innovate the tool; perhaps the opportunity will become more clear.

[Trisha Jackson]

I've been trying to get an invite for quite sometime. Must be thousands of people waiting. I'm very interested to see how it evolves on how advertisers try to take advantage of the knowledge it provides.