A couple weeks ago we asked if your church has people “check in” with location-based services and we found that over 50% didn’t know what a location-based service (LBS) was. Next we had a near tie between those who use LBS’s (24%) and those who are still on the fence whether to use them or not (22%).
The not-knowing what LBS is may just be a confusion the terminology we used. The actual site, like Foursquare, may be more recognizable than the term location-based services. It could also just point to the fact that LBS sites just haven’t taken off, especially for church uses.
The 22% who are still on the fence points out that the conversation needs to be with the individual church as to whether LBS check-in’s are good for their specific audience and needs. This service is not a necessity for church communication yet, but if creatively utilized can be a helpful tool to some.
John Partridge
August 19, 2011
It may also depend a lot on your demographics. We actually have LBS set up with foursquare but in the two or three months since it’s been set up, there have been exactly four sign-ins. Strangely, these sign-ins show up on Facebook, but the problem is, I can’t find any way to see who signed in. Either way, its obvious that not enough people use it to make it particularly valuable.