Premise
- There are a large number of social networks that are either built around, or include to some degree, some location-based functionality
- These services log a user's location on an opt-in basis
- Location services can help users of these networks discover which of their friends are nearby
Problem
- Sometimes this information is not readily available on these social networks (a geo-tagged Twitter post requires an extra click to see location for example)
- Friends checking in nearby aren't always identified as being nearby by the system
- Unless a user is an active participant in the particular social network a friend nearby is using, they will not be aware that they are nearby
Solution
- A web-based platform that aggregates a variety of social networks with geo-tagging functionality of some form (Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook places, Google Latitude, Gowalla)
- Request one-time logins to all a user's social accounts through this service to access location data
- Allow scheduling of availability at certain locations (such as home or work)
- Service can also automatically poll all of a user's networks to identify where they are
- Service automatically polls all of a user's friends on these networks to identify those in proximity
- Notify user via sms/email or some other form when a friend is known to be close by
