TROTTORIA

Foursquare

The iphone application foursquare has now consumed my group of friends. While my fiance has yet to get in on the game, most of my friends with iphones, including myself, are hooked.

The premise itself is very simple. You ‘check in’ with the app when ever you go to a new destination. Trying a new restaurant? check in. Going to your 4th bar of the night? Check in.

By checking in you are broadcasting your location to your designated group of friends.

If you are feeling really bold, you can also add a ‘tip’ to the venue. Had a good dish that you think others will enjoy? add a tip.

Some uber-cool (always wanted to use uber in a blog post) things start to happen…


First off, the more you check in, the more you start to unlock  badges. While the badges may bring back memories of the Boy Scouts, the way you accumulate them is quite humorous. For me, I thought I was cool by just checking into different places (I got a ‘crunked’ badge for checking into multiple places in a single night). That coolness quickly wore off once I unlocked the ‘far, far, away badge’… meaning  I checked in above 59th street in NYC (gossip girl lamo).

Second, if you find yourself checking in to the same place multiple times, you can become the ‘mayor’. All that means is that you get your face broadcasted everytime some one checks in at that location. This lasts until impeachment or someone else checks in more times then you…which ever comes first.

Socially, I find it to be useful as well. The other night I was having dinner with a friend at the Mermaid Inn and I quickly checked in. I immediately got a text from a friend who was down the street, seeing if I wanted to meet up after for a drink.

definitely a +1 for adding value to the evening.

So if if you asking yourself...I’m in media and very important…why do I care?

You should.

If you look back at Quantcast, it started out by offering a free service that allowed Web publishers to track the types of people visiting their sites through software code it placed on the sites. This was a great utility for publishers and buyers alike.  But the tool wasn’t the end game…it was actually a back door to get into the ad targeting business.

I see Foursquare doing just that. I think they will sweep the legs right out underneath YELP! and City Search.

As more and more people check in, FourSquare begins to build a searchable database of restaurants and tips. More often than not, I find myself going to the Foursquare URL to look up a restaurant before I go. I can see which of my friends has been there and if they left or tip or had a suggestion. I also have a vague idea of my friends’ taste and whose tips I should take/leave…I know which ones prefer a PBR over a Pale Ale and who is more likely to order more than just a California roll at a sushi restaurant.

At the same time, local businesses are already starting to gravitate to the program. Free drinks for ‘mayors’, ‘check in for discounts’. One even went as far as offering a ‘Mayors Meet Up’

Since Foursquare is originally seen as a game, more people are likely to friend each other, as appose to other services that market themselves as just that..services.

So is it wrong that I want to go out tonight just so foursquare will think I am cool?