Go Where? Gowalla!

Image by Keegan Jones via Flickr

I have been interested in location based services for a while and tried many different startups. This evening through coverage from notable sources, I was reading about location-based social network FourSquare. The service has raised it's profile recently although it's still not available in London.

Thankfully there is an alternative, The Next Web received an email about Gowalla which is a travel game that rewards you for visiting extraordinary and everyday places. It works in London as well and tomorrow I will be experimenting with the functionality. Gowalla has Facebook Connect and Twitter OAuth login and the option to reshare activity to both services. Zee from thenextweb.com provides details on the four main sections to the application:

• Passport: Your general overview of how many places you’ve visited (similar to a real passport) and a way to quickly “check in”, which lets Gowalla know that you’re currently at that particular address or “Spot”.
• Spots section: Shows you nearby “spots” that might be of interest.
• Trips: A related collection of spots. If you visit all the spots in the a “trip” you earn a certain a “Pin of Glory”, an award to you for completing specific trips.
• Friends: Just like most social networks, these are the friends you’re looking to keep tabs on.

If you are a user of the location-based social network then please comment below and share your experience with the service. Currently I'm unable to import activity to the Facebook newsfeed and I haven't been able to locate an RSS feed. Anyone able to assist?

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• Foursquare who? 'Gowalla' might just be where it's at. (thenextweb.com)