Mid last year we once discussed a location based social networking service called PersonaFlag. Remarks from the community was nice at the beginning, proved by its victory in the Mobile category of the last SparxUp 2010 event. PersonaFlag recently released some updates to improve the experience of its users as well as attract users. With the tagline “Reborn”, can PersonaFlag meet these expectations?

Let’s take a look what updates is presented. Besides a quite different outlook, according to Sigit Purnomo as the founder, there are five things that become a mainstay of this time. The first thing is status updates using Geo Location API. If you are using a browser that supports these APIs (such as Mozilla Firefox 3.5 +, Google Chrome, Opera) then you will be able to give your presence information based on computer properties owned, mainly in the form of an IP address.

Next is the status integration with Facebook and Twitter, something that is already a mandatory for nearly all web-based or mobile web based applications, especially social networking. The third is the availability of Flag Place features for web platforms. The fourth is the use of more intensive game mechanic. In previous versions, the game aspect is less pronounced. This time every time you done some activities then your points will be added. There will be Flagboard to determine who has the highest points. Also badges will be prepared to support it. Just like the concept of Foursquare.

The last one is optimization by using the new Google Maps API. Not just a map, the user can see the direction based on the latest position of status updated of other users, places, events, and advertisers around him. From the five updates, I hope to get a different experience in using it. The Flag Place feature runs pretty good, just like the making of a new venue in Foursquare, but for me the experience of using PersonaFlag is no better than similar services such as Koprol, Foursquare, and Gowalla.

If you do not have many friends in PersonaFlag yet, the time line would look empty with an update from you alone. To increase interest in using PersonaFlag, the developer team should be more aggressive in pursuing the places of businesses that would put the information on this service. Even so, such as chicken and eggs, it is rather difficult to convince partners to work together if the user is not so convenient to keep using it.

Currently PersonaFlag officially have a Symbian based mobile applications. As for the Android, iOS, and BlackBerry version is still under development. I was tried to download its BlackBerry application (available on OS version 4.7 and 5.0) but has not been able to use it properly. I do not know how many users on the Symbian platform, but without implementation for one or more other platforms – which have larger users growth, including in Indonesia – of course it would be difficult to develop.

Translated by Nita Sellya.