There are mixed reviews about Foursquare right now: just a game? what’s the point? can it help your business? or is it just a waste of time?
Like everything else, if you start with the mentality that it is a waste of time, it will totally be a waste of time – so stop reading and go find something useful to do.
A few months ago I would see a couple of twitter friends announcing their locations and “mayorships” from cities like Chicago or San Francisco and couldn’t join in because Foursquare was not in Miami yet. That all has changed and now have an opinion, although it’s still too new to really give you tangible proof. (And for the record, they keep adding cities….you can even request yours if they haven’t yet).
This past August, while attending REBarCamp San Francisco and Inman Connect – the game became really competitive – stealing mayorships from each other, being the first to write in an address to a location to get more points and then fighting for first place position (don’t believe the stories of @Tyr and I cheating either – we did go visit the cat-in-a-box). But the whole point is that you log in when you visit a place and can only compete with locals also playing along. Points go back to zero on Sunday nights and you get badges and discover new things as you play along.
The Social tells us about Ashton Kutcher playing Foursquare. The New York Times calls it
“A combination of friend-finder, city guide and competitive bar game, Foursquare lets users “check in” with a cellphone at a bar, restaurant or art gallery. That alerts their friends to their current location so they can drop by and say hello”.
Techcrunch says (in one of their dozens of articles about Foursquare)
“foursquare’s primary function is to help you figure out where your friends are. Users frequently ‘check-in’ with the app to update their current location, which is then broadcast to their friends”.
Mashable says,
“The location-based application has managed to strip the fat out of other location-aware mobile ideas, find just the right formula for encouraging check-ins, and hit at the right time”.
But here’s the thing – once the game is established in different cities – you start meeting new people, start engaging them and you may just find out that you have tons of things in common. Isn’t it what it’s all about? The whole mayorship thing has introduced me to a couple of great business contacts and has become the start of conversation – it’s all good! And the best part is that you decide how much you want to be involved and it doesn’t have to rule your life. So right now it’s proving to be more than just a game for me….although keeping up with my local socialites would have been plenty for me.
And here’s proof that I did some major butt whooping in San Francisco – hear that Jeff Turner? Todd Carpenter? and Brad Nix? Muahahaha!
Benn Rosales
November 2, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I suppose if it recognizes a subdivision or area of town you’re currently showing property in, or co-working, or having coffee, then it certainly has a business functionality. If you’re the social butterfly, then it certainly lends to that. I see it as a way of noise cutting and connecting with your audience offline.
Dustin Luther
November 2, 2009 at 7:49 pm
And quite the cat-in-a-box it was!
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
November 2, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Benn – I don’t think it recognizes subdivisions yet – and that’s why I find Brightkite to be a bit more useful, it is a way to connect with an audience on a One-on-one basis and cutting out the noise…..I can’t wait for them to keep adding different types of functionality to make it something more than identifying where your friends are at or where they have been.
Dustin – I will NEVER forget the cat-in-a-box (wink)
SteveBeam
November 2, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Still trying to figure this out. Looks interesting but I guess I still don’t totally get it. I did sign up though so once I play around with it for a few days maybe I’ll get it.
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
November 2, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Steve – it takes a while….when it first got to Miami I felt like I was the only one using it – soon you’ll meet people that frequent the same places you do….it can be a bit bizarre at times
Jason Sandquist
November 2, 2009 at 11:19 pm
This hasn’t happened to me yet but Fred Wilson has a couple of real life examples.
Craig Barrett
November 3, 2009 at 12:02 am
There are things we do, businesses we patron, or places we go that may not be directly tied to business. But… the peripheral sense of the application, especially if you tie in a shout out (think long tail), coupled with other Social Media I think may add another layer of branding or community.
Janie Coffey
November 3, 2009 at 9:28 am
well I know for one thing, Ines, I sure want to beat you out of the Mayor position in Versailles! That is in my own back yard, you don’t need to be comin’ over here, you have Soyka over there, let me keep little ole Versailles! Just kidding, Foursquare is a lot of fun and you see where you friends and followers like to go. Another way to make it real and possilby meet F2F
Deb Tabor
November 3, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I’m willing to give any app a try, especially anything that lets me meet new people.
Wesley Faulkner
November 3, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I see my picture on this post. Yeah! That is all.