Why the next generation of social media users will be increasingly friendly to geosocial

Here’s an obvious fact: Technology is entirely unpredictable.

The rate at which it moves and advances is not at all logical or well-thought out. One day, we had flip phones that had four letters per key. The next day, our phones had no keys and were talking to us.

We (at least the vast majority of us) had no idea it was coming.

But one thing that is predictable about technology is how each generation of users will react to it. In general (and there are definitely outliers), this his how it goes: Older generations, or those whose childhoods are farther and farther removed from the current lightspeed tech influx, trust technology less. The younger generations trust technology more because it is a part of the fabric of their early lives. They were brought up with it and by it.

Because of this, something that Keith Quesenberry talks about in chapter nine of his book Social Media Strategy will become increasingly popular as generations pass by: “geosocial.”

These types of apps are created so that users can use location services on their smartphones to check into places. It “allows social networks to connect and coordinate users with local people, businesses or events,” says Quesenberry.

Why will these become more popular? After all, it seems as if this version of social has been slightly dormant when compared to social networks, microblogs and forums at this point in the social media surge. Facebook and Twitter lapped Foursquare and other geosocial apps to this point.

The answer is generational.

The key reason why geosocial has struggled is because up until now, the majority of the people who use social media have been adults when these apps were conceived. Those in the 20-40 year-old age range when these apps were first introduced felt comfortable with very little. They stuck to Facebook and blogging because it was fun, but it wasn’t too big a part of their lives (at least at first).

I believe that a big reason why geosocial apps did not resonate with this generation was because it would have required a level of trust that older generations didn’t have in technology yet (and might never have). It would have required people to not only disclose their location to their phone, but to others who use geosocial apps as well. That generation still felt quite distanced from technology, and it showed in their spare usage of geosocial apps.

Meanwhile, the coming generations have a much higher level of trust. Younger generations now use the iPhone accessory “Find My Friends,” which allows Apple users to track their contacts’ locations in real time. They are willing to install the new Snapchat update, which allows friends to track each other’s locations using the app's geosocial function.

They allow all of this because they trust technology to be a part of them, as it has been for most of their lives. To them, technology is not an accessory. Technology is an extension of themselves. It is a part of themselves.

This leads me to believe that geosocial apps will see a resurgence in the coming generations. Younger people will be looking to connect and do more with location-based services, so the smartest app producers (like Snapchat) will follow quickly through on those desires.

While things may have started out slow for geosocial, I believe that their time is just now beginning. And it’s all about trust.