Thanks for the comments! As for the “hot spot,” context is everything, and as for data, any data can be manipulated to say what we prefer it to say. It’s just the way it is.

I’m sure the cycle of blah social media posts will end. I’ll spend that time doing good work with clients- and hoping that some of it will be shareable as case studies or whatnot.

I also blame — I think people are a bit tapped because a lot got into Social Media at more or less the same time. There’s a natural life cycle to online communities and engagement, and I suppose there’s something of a natural lifecycle to inspiration in a topic as well.

As for using foursquare et al for group analysis — this is somewhat similar to what Stephen Baker mentioned at the Enzee Conference recently. Sense Networks (http://www.sensenetworks.com/) is a company that aggregates cel phone data in an effort to understand what certain tribal groups of people are doing. If that can be predicted, and if tastes can emerge from that, then the data can be used to directly market. Bull’s-eye.

But, alas, data can be readily misinterpreted. If a tribe goes to a particular address at 2 AM most nights, are they frequenting a new hotspot? What if it turns out that that’s a hospital? Does it mean it’s a tribe of doctors? Or patients? Or families of patients? Or are these people perhaps brawlers or drug abusers, recovering from the effects of a typical (for them) Saturday night?

Data, good. Running off in the wrong direction with said data, not so good.

Good luck with the ride.

Picked up link on @prconversations re: @dough post Social Media Top 5: Writer’s Block, Real Value of Location Services: [link to post]

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