The popularity of location-based services and the seemingly insatiable desire to share every move on Foursquare is undeniable. Now check-in fanatics can find all their daily wanderings mapped on Livehoods, a site that uses over 18 million check-ins from the social media phenomenon. Livehoods applies a series of clustering algorithms to "create a representation of the organizational structure of the city," which in turn shows you when your favorite bar is mobbed by B&Ters desperate to prove that they're in Manhattan.
A project by students at School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, the site explains, "if many of the same people check-in to two nearby locations, then these locations will likely be part of the same Livehood." A cursory glance at the interactive map reveals some expected information (check-ins on the Lower East Side more than double from Thursday to Friday night, with most occurring between midnight and 3:00 a.m.) about the habits of New Yorkers—well, at least those using Foursquare. The map also determines "related Livehoods" based on similar users, but is still no substitution for old-fashioned stroller spotting.
