Facebooks Location Feature Will Help Companies Build Better Models

Facebook is preparing to roll out a new feature that will identify user’s locations and will allow the ability of advertisers to more accurately target users geographic data.

McDonald’s will be the first brand to test the new features. The McDonald’s integration will involve users checking in at McDonald’s restaurants and showing featured food items in their posts. Digital advertising and marketing shops around the country are preparing to construct campaigns around this new functionality.

What this means for Agent Based Simulation:

By integrating the data of some of the 400 million Facebook users, agent based models and simulations will be able to more accurately simulate the dynamics of the market.

Knowing what and where users react to advertising and promotions will allow companies to identify the trends of multiple markets, not only geographically but by age and status as well.

Agent based simulation and system dynamics are only as good as the information provided. The ability to tap into enormous user groups who have a record of willingly providing valuable information into likes and dislikes will prove incredibly valuable.

Comments

[Victor Gleim]

Yes, you're right--nowadays people share information about themselves more easily than a few years ago. However, the main obstacle in using such services or features of social networks is uncertainty in their absolutely security. If people don't trust something, they prefer not using it!

[George Rivas]

Well, different people have different perspectives. A few years ago you could have remarked about Facebook "who wants to share their picture and personal information with everybody?". Or about Twitter: "who wants to share these short silly messages with everybody, who would read them?" But as you know, those services are fabulously popular. And every marketer in the world is trying to leverage them.

Right now location services like Foursquare are trying to be this popular. It is social networking w/ proximity and it is one of the hottest trends today. As soon as a nearby store offers you a great sale price on something you value you may change your mind. The impact to simulation companies is figuring out how to deliver the tools to help marketers maximize the opportunity of this technology.

[Victor Gleim]

Interesting! However, I'm not sure people will use this feature. Who wants to share their location with the world? I don't for sure!