The whole notion of ‘where you are available’, which I vetted a few years ago, is not only becoming more accepted, but is actually becoming a bit of an explosion. The biggest incarnation is the whole Foursquare trend.

Dilbert’s Scott Adams also chimed in on the concept with his own post titled ‘Facebook Killer’.

“Here's the Facebook killer part of my post. As I mentioned, Facebook is primarily a record of your past. Imagine a competing service that I will name Futureme for convenience. It's an online system in which you post only your plans, both immediate and future…The interface for Futureme is essentially a calendar, much like Outlook. But it would include extra layers for hopes and goals that don't have specific dates attached. For every entry to your Futureme calendar, you specify who can see it, including advertisers. If you allow advertisers a glimpse of a specific plan, it would be strictly anonymous. Advertisers could then feed you ads specific to your plan, while not knowing who they sent it to…The biggest benefit of the system could come from your network of friends and business associates. Suppose you post on the system that you would like to see a Bon Jovi concert sometime in the next year. Now your friends – the ones you specify to see this specific plan – can decide if they want in on it. Maybe someone you know can get free tickets, and someone has a van and is willing to be the designated driver. Maybe someone has a contact that can get you backstage passes. By broadcasting your plan, you make it possible for others to improve your plan.”

Adams extends the concept from sharing ‘where’ you’ll be ‘available’ to ‘what’ you will be ‘doing’. That way the people who might want to intersect and augment what you are ‘doing’ can contribute not just by joining you, but perhaps with some other service or support. Adams even sees the direct link with the concept at the Outlook tool as I highlighted. Maybe someday Microsoft will innovate in this area after all.