Geolocation has been a buzz word in communication circles for some time now.  GPS-enabled devices are commonplace today among even the least tech-savvy consumers.  But it is the potential of geolocation apps that has those of us in the communications world drooling.  The ability to reach those that sit closest to our exact location presents exciting new possibilities that until this wave of technology were limited to direct mail.  And if you’ve been to your mailbox lately, you realize how saturated that medium has become.  Right now there is still time to get out front of geo-location as it primarily remains in the “early adopters” phase.  For those in church communications, now is the time to punch your ticket to the geolocation train before it leaves you behind as a runaway locomotive.

First up, a look at the major players in the app field.  Some of the first on the scene were Loopt, Brightkite & Google Latitude.  But the two biggest names launched a year ago at SXSW in Austin and have attracted the greatest following thus far:  Foursquare & Gowalla.  Both are social media apps that reward users for checking in at places.  I’ve used both and despite their core differences they essentially operate the same way.  I’ve been checking in using both for some time now.

If I had to pick an early frontrunner in this race it would be Foursquare.  Mashable‘s Pete Cashmore closed out 2009 by dubbing Foursquare as “Next Year’s Twitter”:

“Among the Web’s early adopter set, the answer is nearly unanimous: Foursquare.  While the technology landscape is ever-changing, I’d argue that Foursquare already has aligned itself to become next year’s mainstream hit.”

Tech guru Robert Scoble is also on the Foursquare bandwagon following the path of Twitter.  “Go back three years ago. Twitter was being used by the same crowd that is playing with Foursquare today.”  And he adds this nugget that sums up where many of us are right now on geolocation.  “It sounds really lame, doesn’t it? But didn’t Twitter sound really lame to you when someone first told you about it?  It’s not lame.”

Unfortunately since I carry a Motorola Droid, I have been limited to Gowalla’s mobile site until this past week  when the guys in Austin released an Android beta app.  The latter is still a tad buggy but a completed version is promised soon.  The Foursquare app is smooth but makes you dig a bit to check leaderboards.

Yelp has recently stepped into the game by adding the capability to check into locations on their geolocation-based review app.  I’ve used Yelp when I am on the road and it offers some cool features like the ability to upload pics.  Frankly I am surprised pics aren’t available on the other guys’ apps yet.  It seems inevitable.  Yelp has primarily become the next generation TripAdvisor (a site that is paying the price for being slow to the geolocation game).  If your church or business is not fully updated on Yelp yet, do it now.  Yelp offers the ability to place your own info and match up to your overall branding.  And for the record, Yelp remains a much better option than ChurchRater.com.

Another app developer that was quick to to take advantage of geolocation was lifechurch.tv‘s YouVersion.  The YouVersion Live feature of their Bible app allows users to locate churches and find out what is happening and being studied without ever stepping foot on a campus.

It should also be noted that the much-maligned and yet still wildly successful Google Buzz has become the first (but certainly not last) of the more traditional social media such as Facebook/MySpace/Twitter to fully utilize geolocation.  Frankly it is the primary reason why it is still picking up users after the disastrous privacy issues at its launch.

Many churches have begun looking at how to best utilize geolocation as they develop their own iPhone/BlackBerry/Android apps.  As technology improves, the more exciting the possibilities arise for helping folks find their way around your campus and to be alerted to events as they occur.  Locally, I love what the Houston Zoo has done with their iPhone app (although I’m still waiting for them to step up with Android for my phone).  They have created an entirely new experience for me taking my kids to see the animals by helping me locate other family members in the park and alerting me to feedings and special events.  This is where churches need to be heading as we push further into 2010.  Particularly megachurches like the one I attend that have sprawling campuses and an overwhelming schedule of programs & events.

Consider this the “All aboard!” for geolocation.   Don’t get left at the station.

Now that the world has enjoyed a day or so test drive, it is time to start determining if Google Buzz has what it takes to become a major player in social media.  Let’s face it, Google’s track record in social media has been less than stellar.  So there was a great deal of skepticism when the suits in Mountain View announced the new service Tuesday.

My initial reaction was one of surprise that Buzz was being launched inside the Gmail architecture.  While it is a brilliant move to essentially launch with millions of preloaded users, it also left a bad first taste in the mouths of many of their most loyal users.

I’ve used Google Buzz both at home and on my Motorola Droid.  Both are relatively easy to access and operate.  The geolocation functionality of the app brings together cool aspects of Twitter along with some of the fun elements of Foursquare & Gowalla.  I find myself interacting with neighbors whom I would normally not have a connection through Twitter or Facebook.  This opens up a wide array of possibilities for businesses & organizations like churches to connect with more of their neighbors than ever before outside of mailers & broadcast advertising.

After the disappointment of Google Wave, I feel a little gun-shy about buying into all of the hype of what Google plans to do with Buzz.  And yet we have seen how strong Gmail has proven to be over the long haul for users.

Unfortunately for Google, most of the buzz about Buzz has been negative in regard to privacy concerns.  I admit my wife freaked out yesterday when she stumbled into Gmail and saw people “following her”.  Even though she is on both Facebook & Twitter, she still is extremely concerned about privacy issues on both of those services as well.  So when she is in her words “forced” into Buzz it fed into her fears.  She obviously is not alone.

Jennifer Leggio of ZDnet doesn’t mince words:

“But the whole experience makes me feel somewhat violated and out of control. And, unlike other social networks that I can hide while I try to do work or catch up with communications, Buzz is in my face every time I go to Gmail.”

The blogosphere is overloaded today with tips on how to disable all or portions of Buzz.  That’s not exactly what Schmidt, Brin & Page likely had in mind following the launch.  Frankly, there were similar privacy concerns expressed when Gmail was launched and those have been faint at best as the years have passed by.  But this launch seems to have gotten under the skin of more folks than anticipated and frankly there are valid concerns.  The most grievous breach of privacy is that Buzz automatically displays your most frequent email contacts.  As a former journalist who relied heavily on undisclosed sources, I can appreciate how catastrophic those types of revelations might be.

Using Buzz off your mobile phone presents even more privacy concerns as noted by Barbara Krasnoff of Computerworld:

“I’d be interested to know if the people who left their first completely public messages using their spanking new Buzz accounts were aware that their exact locations were being broadcast to anyone who happened to look in. Or whether they cared.

I certainly do.”

It should be noted that you do not have to give your location when posting buzzes.  But it certainly is encouraged in order to maximize the geolocation capabilities.  Frankly letting people know where I am is appealing many times as verification.  But you can certainly see how it might be an issue.

An interesting side note is that while Google was continuing to diversify their portfolio of services, the January search engine results showed Bing slowly making up ground on the leader in light of their partnership with Yahoo.  Andy Atkins-Krüger of Multilingual Search took note of the timing as well:

“Whilst Wall Street was rubbing its hands in glee at the prospect of a ComScore announcement showing that Bing had gained market share, Google was launching ‘Buzz’ – but not exactly in a fully polished and finished state. If Google hoped to upstage the Bing advance – they did it with a certain apparent lack of preparation.”

Prepared or not, the Buzz product will have every opportunity to give Google a much stronger foothold in the burgeoning social media landscape.  And it likely will raise the standards for what can be achieved by a social media app over the course of the next year.  Frankly, it could just be the first in a number of major steps forward for the industry.  But it could also force everyone to further examine our own privacy concerns.