Microblogging with BrightKite Part I

I’ve been testing out BrightKite’s geo-social networking tool for a couple of weeks and I heart it. BrightKite is the “Where Are You?” compliment to Twitter’s “What are You Doing?” and integrates into the regular Twitter Feed. Both Twitter and BK allow you to answer their questions online and via SMS, but BK has the better iPhone interface, making it my first choice for mobile microblogging.

With BK, you check-in at an actual physical address or general geographic location, such as 123 Main Street, Cost Plus World Market or Denver, Colorado. In addition you can see who else is visiting the location or has visited the location and how long ago. Various security settings allow you to limit who sees your exact location (which is a relief :-), but the shared history of notes and photos tied to a particular location give an instant sense of community.

After checking in, you can post notes on the location (with 140 characters or less, of course):

Or even a photo:

My first friend request came from a stranger while I was posting and traveling out of state. My initial reaction was “Eeekk! Stranger Danger!” but I quickly realized that it was no different than the numerous strangers I follow and follow me on Twitter. Usually, I select my TwitterBuds based on superficial things such as common interests, life experiences or hobbies. My new BK friend and I had a geographic location in common, no doubt a solid foundation upon which to build a lasting friendship.

Various third-party applications make it quite easy to identify potential TwitterBuds who tweet about things that interest me. BK has a tagging feature, but until the search is enabled, it’s just a tease and untapped potential. In fairness, BK is still in Beta, and so far it is more stable then Twitter (ahem) and no doubt the search capabilities will come, along with cute desk top clients and lots-o-third-party-applications. When that happens, BK will have the potential to be the biggest time suck known to humankind. Trust me, Twittervision will have nothing on this.

If you would like to try out BrightKite, leave a comment and I’ll send an invite to your email address. If you are already there and you’d like to add me as a friend, here’s my profile page

BK Beta

Originally uploaded by Wabi Sabi Me