Loopt Now on Every U.S Carrier

by David Evans on December 22, 2008 in Mobile

I’ve mentioned the leaders in location-based awareness, Loopt, Meetmoi and Brightkite, many times.

They are the leaders in the mobile social networking movement. Loopt has announced it is now available on every U.S. carrier, however, privacy concerns remain at the forefront. Do you really want everyone within 2000 meters to know you are at the laundromat, or home alone?

I predict that within a year we will read about someone’s house being robbed while they brag on Facebook about rocking out at Sandals resort in Jamaica or trekking in Asia. TMI (Too Much Information) is coming to a mobile phone near you soon, for better or worse.

Take it from me, you don’t fully appreciate how powerful location-based dating is going to be until you meet someone that way. It’s an absolute thrill, much more exciting than the usual browser-based email/chat required to meetup.

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1 SaÃ¯d Amin December 22, 2008 at 3:36 pm: hi dave,

“location based dating”- yea, it sounds absolutely exciting! i suspect that the adoption will be higher for men than women and fair better on dating sites that are more casual (ie onlinebootycall) or geared towards younger demographics (ie.hotornot). generally speaking, it sounds like a nice add on service for dating sites.

privacy concerns: *me cringing*

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2 David Evans December 22, 2008 at 4:27 pm: I agree with you Said. Young males without privacy concerns.

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3 Vivek Krishna December 23, 2008 at 2:40 am: I doubt if this will work at all..except for young 20s males.. Essentially this is like being stalked with a GPS monitor on you :) Eventually the success will depend on how many women use this. Are there any statistics on adoption of this service?

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4 David Evans December 23, 2008 at 9:52 am: I haven’t been able to find much on adoption rates, it’s very early in the game. Dating is going to be a sideline for these companies. The strongest opportunities are in markets like advertising- walk by a Starbucks, get a text msg mentioning 20% off if you walk in right then. Or, “Show me all stores that have a new Nikon D90 at less than $750″.

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5 Dot December 23, 2008 at 11:13 am: Fellas – LOOPT CAME OUT OF THE CLOSET a long time ago:

http://www.realjock.com/gayforums/304526/

Get it!

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6 lisa January 4, 2009 at 11:31 pm: Yep – I tried Loopt it only to find a bunch of gay men.

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