Gowalla
 | |
Type of site | Social Networking |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | , |
| Key people | Josh Williams, Scott Raymond |
| Employees | 30 |
| URL | gowalla |
| Launched | 2007 |
Gowalla is a location-based social network owned by Facebook. Users 'check in' at Spots in their local vicinity, either through a dedicated mobile application or through the mobile website. As a reward users will sometimes receive virtual "items" from check-ins. Items have developed to become a promotional tool for the game's partners, e.g. Incase. As of November 2010 there were approximately 600,000 active users.[2]
At the start of December 2009 it was reported that Gowalla had raised $8.4 million in a round of venture capital funding led by Greylock Partners and angel investors Chris Sacca, Kevin Rose and Jason Calacanis.[3][4] It was acquired by Facebook on December 3, 2011, for an undisclosed sum Template:Cit web.
Overview
Gowalla is a primarily mobile web application that allows users to check in to locations that they visit using their mobile device. This is achieved either through the use of dedicated applications available on Google Android, iPhone, Palm WebOS and BlackBerry, or via m.gowalla.com. There is currently no way of checking in through the standard website. Check-ins can be pushed via Notifications to iPhones, and by linking accounts, to Twitter and Facebook.
"Trips", which as of January 2010 [5] can be made by any user, link up to 20 related spots, falling into categories such as Nature Hikes or Pub Crawls.
Spots and Trips can be "featured" by Gowalla, and with this comes a special status and icon, along with being highlighted on the website. Featured spots tend to be local landmarks such as Buckingham Palace in London, while featured Trips are chosen for being "unique and exciting".[5]
Prior to version 4 of the mobile app released on 22nd September 2011, upon checking in users may have received virtual "Items" as a bonus and these could be swapped or dropped at Spots. Users became "Founders" of a spot by dropping an item there. Items used to form a key feature within the game and each user had a vault into which they could place items they want to keep forever. Since this update, items and the user's vault are not the focus of the application and are in fact totally removed from the user experience. There was widespread user backlash resulting from this decision[6].
On December 2, 2010, Gowalla released version 3.0 for the iPhone 4, allowing Gowalla users to check in using Foursquare, Facebook Places, Twitter and Tumblr, or view friends' check-ins from other services.[7]
As of the 7th of March 2011 the Android version of Gowalla was released. This allowed the same features that applied to the iPhone 4 to be used on Android phones; it also updated the interface dramatically to introduce a new "Passport" look.[8]
Street Team
Within the Gowalla community, certain users have an elevated status above that of normal users. Whereas every user can create a spot and maintain its details, members of the Street Team are able to move and edit any unlocked spots. This includes the ability to merge duplicate spots.
Awards
Gowalla won the Mobile category in the 2010 South by Southwest Interactive awards.[9]
See also
Other Services
- Brightkite
- Facebook Places
- Fire Eagle
- foursquare
- Gbanga
- Geoloqi
- Google Latitude
- Hotlist
- Loopt
- Koprol
- Scvngr
- Socialight
External links
References
- ^ "Gowalla.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
- ^ Swartz, Jon. "The latest from Gowalla is worth checking out". USAToday. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
- ^ McCarthy, Caroline (2009-12-09). "Geolocation wars heat up: Gowalla raises $8.4 million". CNET. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Hawkins, Lori (2009-12-10). "Gowalla raises $8.4 million to expand in Austin". Statesman.com. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "New Features: Trips and Bookmarks". Gowalla Blog. 2010-01-28. Retrieved 18 March 2010. [dead link]
- ^ http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/09/22/gowalla-updated-to-version-4-0-removes-features-adds-force-closes/
- ^ Chartier, David. "Gowalla 3.0 Unites Facebook, Foursquare Check-ins". Retrieved 2 December 2010.
- ^ "Gowalla 3 for Android finally out".
- ^ Richmond, Shane (2010-03-18). "SXSW 2010: The changing face of the web". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 March 2010.