What is a check-in?

Recently I was at a restaurant with my wife’s family and decided to use facebook’s new Places feature using my iPhone. Among the people I tagged in the check-in was my 74 year old Father-in-law. The next day I received an e-mail from him asking me what a check-in was. Here’s my response: A check-in is a way to announce to your friends through facebook that you are at a specific geographical location, a bar, a restaurant or an airport. That way if they are at that location they can meet you in person.

This exchange got me thinking about a previous post I wrote about “Social networks will be like air.” The geolocation piece adds a whole dimension to ubiquity. What’s the impact on learning? talent management? Oh..the possibilities! More soon.