What is Foursquare and Why Should I Check In?
July 8, 2010I was recently talking to a friend who had not begun to partake in Foursquare and was trying to explain it. She was excited, but then had a few questions fundamental questions about it.
It got me thinking about what Foursquare talks about being and what people generally use it for.
From Foursquare itself, there isn’t much of an indication what it’s used for. Sure, there’s a learn more page about Foursquare, but really, despite giving the how, that doesn’t say why.
Yes, it does say that you can meet friends out at places, but sadly, there still aren’t many people who use the geolocation service, mostly because of the fact it is a geolocation service. Obviously, there are major privacy concerns and with recent events like Facebook’s recent privacy woes, a lot of people can get scared quiet easily.
Personally, the only time I’ve gotten a text from someone in my area, was when I was traveling up to Boston, and a friend noticed that I had checked into the bus station just before him. And even so, we couldn’t meet up at the time. It was so close to being a Foursquare meet up.
What Foursquare quickly becomes, more than anything, is a recommendation service. Whether that’s through people actually recommending places, or recommending them involuntarily by going there often. Which is why small businesses should do all they can to promote Foursquare. Whether it’s promotions, or just encouraging people to check in, the benefits from friends’ recommendations are straight-up tremendous
