329) Fountain of Youth

(Taken earlier today. I cannot tell you how much I love this picture.)

Day 1 at SXSW!

I have never overheard so many people bragging about their check-ins before. While the success of Foursquare (especially at SXSW, where it was first announced) and Gowalla are no secret, to actually hear people articulate the fact that they checked in somewhere boggles my mind.

Think about it. In real life, check-ins would be like getting to your destination and announcing out loud, "I'm here! At the Starbucks on 17th St. and Union Square West!" It would be ridiculous. Because it is the audience that matters. In real life, we proclaim our current location to strangers in the vicinity. Online, it's a more selective group of friends, acquaintances, etc.

I understand that the purpose of these check-in platforms is to facilitate "serendipitous" meet ups in real life. And while that's an admirable purpose, I can't help but feel that most just check-in for the sake of checking in - that the frequency of actually meet-ups caused by coincidental geo-location is low.

We (or, many of the people I encountered today) place value on check-ins. ("I checked in to like four places just last night." No joke. Word for word.) This in itself feels lacking in meaning. It's self-validation, a waving of our arms, saying, "I'm here! I exist! I do things that matter!" This sentiment is often attributed to teens, as self-validation in their formative years is treated like crack. But clearly, this older demographic is enthusiastically following suit.

Granted, not all do. Aside from tech savvy, I'd love to see the psychology behind people who feel they need to check-in and the ones who don't. At a certain point, do we "grow out of it"? Is it like a late or extended adolescence? Perhaps we've found the newest way to remain young - like checking in to the fountain of youth.