Political campaigns are using display ads, mobile apps, Facebook pages, and Twitter, so it's no surprise they see potential in location-based check-in services. Gowalla is hoping political campaigns follow the leads of Senate hopeful Charlie Crist and Texas Governor Rick Perry in using offerings it introduced today.
Politicians Desperate for New Campaign Technology Grasp Onto Gowalla
But will keeping on the bleeding edge of technology create an actual edge in the mid-terms? Not likely. Gowalla, for instance, has a fractional number of users than Foursquare--just some 300,000. Spread those users across each state, then divide that number by those who actually care about politics and those who are party-affiliated, and this new campaign tool cannot possibly have a significant impact. Take Rick Perry. How many Gowalla users are there in Texas? Of that number, how many are Republican? And of that number, how many are motivated enough by "check ins" and stamps to actually attend a Perry fundraiser?
"In certain places, there is enough density to move the needle," says Josh Williams, CEO of Gowalla. "This fall we'll see the early adopter crowd, who'll be dry running the technology and help us make a better product."
To me, it makes no difference if it's a game changer. But it did make a new GoWalla fan outta me :)
ReplyDeleteI also want people to know when I'm at the event of the nation's top Governor!