If you read any mainstream media or social media sites, you might have started to get the impression that Foursquare, Gowalla or Loopt applications are on everyone’s lips these days.

However, it had been only a matter of time before Facebook decided to exploit the rapid success of Foursquare and Gowalla and try to get a piece of the pie. So, does Facebook Places have a chance against the leaders and will it represent a milestone in digital strategy for 2011?

In 2009 Foursquare and Gowalla introduced a gaming element that is very relevant to the retail and entertainment industries. Thier users “check in” to pubs, the symphony, SFO, the Cubs game, Bob’s barbeque (in his backyard). By doing so, they are broadcasting users’ time/geo location and activity to their friends. The greatest appeal is that the apps award points and badges to users who meet various check-in criteria on one hand. On the other, retailers can award free services or drinks to people based on check-in activities. It's a win-win strategy for both sides involved.

If Facebook Places is intended to be a viable social media channel, it must heavily rely on the interaction of its users to make this service spread virally. Checking in and unlocking badges, locations, and events have pushed Foursquare and Gowalla to success, but can Facebook utilize the same strategy and hope for success?

Credit to Mark Fidelman

So where does this leave Facebook with its 500 million users? By itself, Facebook Places is not going to be trouble for Foursquare or Gowalla, because it is rather informative and doesn`t reward their users or give them any incentives for sharing check ins.

On the other hand, Facebook Places has the backing of Facebook – with its +1,000 employees, +125 million monthly web visitors and over half a billion registered user-base. With this support, Facebook Places does a few things very well:

•    Creates a simple and stylish interface.
•    Flags bad locations – useful to clean up junk sites.
•    Can tag friends with you at a location (very cool!)

It’s interesting to see where Facebook Places goes from here. Especially since the rest of the geo-social networking market is trying its best to retain or gain a stronger foothold. Foursquare recently announced a partnership with Pepsi. Gowalla took a step away from its usual geeky NASA type deals to forge an alliance with Disney. Location based services are set to get more mainstream. If Facebook can closely integrate Places with its other services, such as groups, ads and Fanpages, then there is real potential for you to integrate Facebook Places into your social media strategy.

And after all said above, Geosocial in 2011 will be an excellent example of an explosive trend that will develop over the next five years and end up transforming retail as we know it. Apparently geosocial is set to be a key driver in the Web 3.0 evolution.