Since 2010 Twitter allows users to add their current location to tweets. However, the feature is turned off by default and even if enabled, it has never been truly useful. In a recent experiment, Twitter tries to tackle this issue with a new ‘Nearby’ tab.

The idea behind it is simple: Twitter tries to make the network more locally relevant by displaying Tweets send near your current location. Now, this is an opportunity not only to discover other users close to you but for businesses to connect to the local community and drive in more customers.

• ‘Try one of our bagels, fresh out of the oven!’
• ‘Come in for breakfast from now till 10 am and get a Coffee on us’
• ‘10% off everything from now till January 14th’

Currently only a subset of users have access to the ‘Nearby’ tab (official Twitter iOS app). We strongly believe that Twitter will launch this feature to the public soon - in the meantime, read one of our related posts about how Hootsuite can help you manage your Twitter account in real time and drive in more customers.

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