The problem with many communication on the internet often is decentralization. There are two ways to achieve centralization - either form a protocol that is great for universal usage, like email, or be the most popular service; Just ask Diaspora and Laconica what they think of their popularity compared to Facebook and Twitter, for example. Currently, location services seem to be extremely fragmented - you not only have services like Foursquare and Gowalla, but Facebook also offers their own service, Facebook Places, for sharing your location and checking in to places. So, a lot of this data is often spread out to a vareity of places, and a lot of the interesting data doesn't get to the eyeballs of people that it would be useful for. How exactly do you solve a problem like this? MeMap has an idea.
MeMap is an iOS app that is designed to try and connect all these people and services together, in a way. See, MeMap integrates with Facebook Places, considering that Facebook is one of the most used services on the internet, so you have a massive userbase there, and it will be valuable to a good number of users. When you load up the app and connect your Facebook account, you will get an interactive map that shows any geolocation data from your Facebook friends. Now, here's where the connection of disparate networks comes in - if data is shared from a service like Foursquare, Gowalla, or Loopt, it is pinned to your MeMap map.
Now, there's obviously the thought that it actually isn't integrating those other services, but this may be to the advantage of the service - it's just far easier to support just a Facebook login, and doesn't complicate the user experience. The ultimate idea behind MeMap, as according to the founder of MeMap, Matt Farnell, is to make something similar to Twitter, where it's easy to just follow what your friends are doing. “We draw an analogy between our concept in the location sharing space, and the way that people have evolved to use Twitter. The current location sharing networks would be like limiting Twitter to the content creators, excluding anyone preferring to simply follow.” After all, that is the interesting thing about Twitter, and about geolocation services - it's about targeting messages and sharing what you want to share to people who are interested in it. Twitter has made it easy, and MeMap is hoping to step into that space. Their app is available on the App Store right now for free.
