Why Foursquare Is Overhyped

Foursquare August 17, 2010 21 Comments @niallharbison

By now everybody knows my opinion on Foursquare and in case you have been living under a rock I just don’t like it. It’s not something that really excites me or entices me to use it but I do always want to keep an open mind on new products and for that reason I thought I’d give some of the logic behind why I just don’t like it and probablyÂ won’t use it(I say probably because the deals could get better). I’ve also been thinking about location based services and where they sit now ahead of the big Facebook announcement tomorrow (they are probably about to enter location in a big way). So here is why I think Foursquare is just way too over hyped….

My Real Friends Will Never Be On Foursquare

I’d love a world where I could see 8 to 10 real friends and family checking in to different locations but that just isn’t going to happen any time soon as they have mostly all just discovered Facebook and think Twitter is a step too far, having them check in to a real world location using their phone is just not going to happen. The people who are on Foursquare are either people that I know through Twitter, work colleagues or people I don’t know at all and I just don’t have any inclination to let people know where I am. I know I can check in off the grid and just avail of the offers but I really have better things to be doing than trying to save a dollar of Euro on my next cup of coffee. I know the deals should get better as the adoption rates improve but realistically in a backwater like Ireland where I live that is a year away at best, possibly more. If it really is that good in a year’s time I’ll consider it then but in the last year that everybody has been shouting about it I just haven’t seen any huge increase in deals that interest me.

The Media Hype And Twitter Effect

I think Foursquare gets a disproportionate amount of coverage for what it is. There is no doubt that it is growing but it’s important to remember that it only recently passed 2 million users. You could walk down you local high street and ask 500 people in a row and the chances are not one of them would have heard of the service. It’s still incredibly niche yet gets mass media coverage and I really do think the media have been trying to build the next Twitter when it is clearly not. Sure it could turn out to be a very useful service but I really can’t seeing it changing the world (big statement I know) in the way that Twitter has.It feels to me that so many media outlets are just coming off the back of the Twitter story and how big and far reaching that was and there instantly had to be a new kid on the block, “The next twitter” and that role has clearly fallen to Foursquare.

The Mechanic Novelty Will Wear Off

People battle each other all over the place. Sure it’s fun and getting to the top’s of leader boards and claiming mayorships is great and it gets people engaged. Is it fun enough to keep people engaged for years and years as the service grows? I’m not sure. Facebook, Twitter and Youtube keep people engaged for years because they are inherently useful and allow me to engage with other people and content in a social manner. I’m not sure a game with league tables and badges can do that over a long period of time. Will people really care that you are the mayor of a bridge in 2012? I doubt it. The one area where it will stay useful is deals and discounts but they will have to start offering those on a massive scale to keep people engaged and checking in.

It Would Be 1% Of My Marketing Strategy

I would consider myself a fairly savvy web person and lets just say I opened a city center restaurant tomorrow (the most likely sort of business to use Foursquare) I could honestly say that I would only spend 1% of my time implementing deals. I’d set up a couple of specials, a prize for the mayor and then head off and do some real marketing that will target the rest of the 99.9% of the people walking past my door who are not using Foursquare. There is no doubting Foursquare could bring a few punters in but the vast majority of punters would still find my business through more traditional means like flyers, review magazines, recommendations and through conventional websites and review sites. I’m not saying I would ignore Foursquare but it would be a tiny part of what I do and it annoys me when I hear the media talking about Foursquare as if it is the saving grace of small local businesses around the world.

My Bet Has Always Been On Facebook

Who knows how far they will go tomorrow with their announcement but you can be sure it will cause a stir. In an ideal world I would love to see the like button made applicable to physical locations. I’d love to be able to go in to my local bar and like it, providing they had a Facebook page of course. The deals that could be pushed through Facebook pages would be insane. Crucially all the users and tons of small businesses are there.It’s also important to remember that Facebook already has tons of credit card numbers and advertisers on their platform so setting up some targeted ads really won’t be a huge step. Facebook of course came very close to buying Foursquare at the start of the year but that deal fell through and to be honest I don’t think that is a bad thing. I’m not sure how aggressively Facebook will go about location as of tomorrow but they will be a force to be reckoned with and I’d bet that by this time next year we will all be busy checking in via Facebook mobile apps and getting all sorts of deals. There are after all over 100 million of us walking around and using the Facebook mobile app already.

I’m Not Totally Down On Foursquare

Just because Foursquare is not for me and I wouldn’t use it for my own small business does not mean that it is not a great service that many people love using. It clearly is and the fact that so many new users are signing up every day is testament to that. All I’m saying is that it is over hyped and people need to calm down a little. Foursquare will I am sure along with other location based services become a serious channel for marketing to people in real time but we are a long way off and Foursquare is not the only player in this game and faces some pretty serious competition as time goes on. Before all the Foursquare junkies jump in to the comments and start attacking me and citing numbers I just want to say that I know it has potential, it will grow, deals will get bigger and better in the future and it is probably a lot of fun but it is not for me and I wish the hype would just calm down a notch or two!

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Comments

Conchubhair

I hear ya. Kooky and quirky in an easily distractable kind of way, but after that, it gets boring very quickly. I was using it in Gaoth Dobhair a couple of weeks ago. You can imagine the excitement…
derek.g.bridge

I agree with you, especially on your point about one’s ‘off-line’ circle of friends. But the space to watch is surely the idea of checking-in to cultural events, e.g. an episode of Sherlock or House or … (fill in tour own favourite). Checking-in is so much more targeted than using a hash tag.
http://www.jontusmedia.com Jon Buscall

Yup, I’m with you on this one. Some of my clients are getting some use of this like restaurants and cafÃ©s, but there’s not really been the uptake in Stockholm as SXSW conference seemed to imply.

Smart phones tend to dominate the market here in Stockholm but people seem to be using Facebook more than Foursq. or Gowalla. Once Facebook ads location servies I can see them dominating the market. But whether or not location service games are the way to go remains to be seen. I still see Twitter as a better way of connecting with customers and generating leads through keyword tracking and person-to-person engagement.
http://www.brownenvelope.ie Ralph Smith

IF and its a big if 80% of my facebook friends used foursquare it would be great. Saturday night, out in town and I see an old friend checked into a nearby bar , I can then text them and meet up. Unfortunately unless it becomes mass market its not hugely useful.

Ralph
http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Yeah Ralph I think thats it. Thats the main reason why I don’t want to be an early apaptor on Foursquare. I’ll be happy to wait a couple of years and when (and if) those friends do join I’ll be all over it because it will then be fantastically useful. Thats the key….real friends, not people you know form online.
http://www.midpointcreative.com Steven

Hi Niall,
Nice post and I agree with you. I don’t get Foursquare, I get what it’s about bout I just don’t get it in how it relates to me (yet). As for knowing where my friends are I don’t really need Foursquare. It may be a little old fashioned but this I usually do it by text, e.g. Me:”Where are you at it?” Friend: “I’m in such a place” Me:”OK I’ll see you there!”.
I can see some use for it with mass ‘check-ins’ at cultural events as mentioned by Derek above but like a lot of others I am willing to wait until it becomes necessary before I get involved.
http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Fagan

I guess the guys in Foursquare are going to close up offices today and call it quits. Sure why bother? 20 Million in funding, only a year old and well over 2 million users, brands falling over themselves to strike deals with them…

No one said that brands/restaurants should focus ALL their efforts on Foursquare – (much like you wouldn’t put everything into Facebook Ads) – it was always that it was just something nice to have & why not use it when it is free!

Lots of people don’t collect coupons but many do, not everyone listens to the radio so they never hear the ads, I don’t buy newspapers so I’m not seeing the ads! People consume content in so many different ways, if the Foursquare population is increasing and you have an opportunity as a restaurant owner to get in front for that audience, why wouldn’t you?

How many people have used coupons to get pizza offers? Gone for the early bird in a restaurant between 5pm – 7pm? Received an SMS to say “tonight only blah blah blah” and acted on it?

It is your choice to play the game, much like it is your choice to sit and spend hours playing championship manager or solitaire – if you don’t like playing then stop!

I credit the guys in Foursquare for building a location based service which has fought off some stiff competition to get where they are today! I think it is more about watch this space than ripping them apart because you can’t see the value!
http://www.simplyzesty.com Rob Cumiskey

Completely agree Fagan, Foursquare isn’t for everyone but has proven itself in a very short space of time to have heaps of potential and a very loyal (and growing) user base. Surely it can’t be ignored!
http://digitology.ie Christian

For what it’s worth I truly believe in the ability of Foursquare to help businesses in a virtually cost-free way. It is a ready to use, digital customer loyalty reward tool that can be set up in no time. I don’t see any reason why every restaurant, cafÃ© or coffee shop already operating loyalty programmes wouldn’t get onto Foursquare immediately.

Outside of business, I find that Foursquare offers amazing potential for festival and conference goers, as demonstrated by Glastonbury this year. Users could see, in real-time, what was trending and where people were going as well as viewing real-time tips and advice from friends. If a band or business was to use Foursquare at an event they could easily drive a huge amount of people to their gig / stand / talk etc.

All it takes is a bit of thought and Foursquare offers an awesome array of possibilities and potential. IMHO anyway.
Jonathan

I have not much to add but that I fully agree with Niall and Christian. I know if there where places near me offering specials to people that check in I would go. Last week I went to the D Hotel in Drogheda for coffee because when I was in Scotch hall I saw their add I wasn’t eligible for the offer but I went.

Ok so 2 coffee and a 7up isn’t going to make a big hit to a business but with its growth rates I think its certainly not an avenue to ignore.

And of course unlike most other on line games it actively encourages you to go out!
http://www.simplyzesty.com Niall Harbison

Good to see that even people within SZ are now disagreeing with my blog posts!! Haha thanks Fagan + Rob! I’m just so surprised it took the Foursquare mob that long to mobelize!

Christian I agree with all your points pretty much in that the possibilities are endles, huge potential and all of those things would be super exciting. If it all happens and the place is full of deals and it continues to expand I’ll be on there in a shot but like I say above it’s just a little overhyped at the moment. If I was a small business like I say I’d defo be on there, wack up my special offers and then go off and do something that hits the mass market.
The other way of getting something out of it is doing little novelty things (which we have done ourselves) that get traditional media coverage but I’d say that is restricted to larger brands for now and that opportunity has pretty much passed although I do think we will see tons more marketing companies embracing it shortly because I can hear them all asking about it!!
http://www.mcawilliams.com McAWilliams

Well as a user of Foursquare, I must admit I have enjoyed my time on it although I am starting to tire of it. If it did start to get taken over with companies offering me this, that and the other it would totally annoy me, the same way as so many other social media tools now out there. I also dont feel foursquare will ever grow as big as any of the others out there, sorry Fagan, I would say that out of the 2 million users out there, a big percentage have given up on it, much as has happened with twitter over the years. Facebook on the other hand which is something that I would not use much these days, seems to be able to hang on to its users, will this last well who knows.

I use foursquare for the game aspect but even that is becoming annoying, I hate to say it but I really dont see the longevity here, much like the way twitter is changing and in my opinion is not as strong as it used to be this time last year or even 3 years ago. People are dubious about foursquare and I imagine the majority of location based services, they don’t want people to know where they are, it is in many ways a form of stalking, I have seen this “Foursquare Stalking” with my own 2 eyes and have on occasion even done it myself, so this would be another reason for me to think it wont last.

Now I know Fagan (who loves foursquare) and his foursquare buddies in there will possibly have a go at me over this but remember I am not a social media guru or anything, I dont have all the stats etc, but these would be my feelings on it all, as your average Joe who enjoys networking and one of the few out there who have made Foursquare what it is now.

PS: I know my comment makes damn all sense and I dont even know what I was attempting to say, this is why I photoblog more I reckon.
http://main.adxplore.net Steve Russ

Let’s face it…these players are in this for only one thing, to be the first to crack the location-based advertising nut. But instead of being upFront about their goals they are all packaging the future into games to get sociables to forward their mission.

Never underestimate the power of a new start-up to upset the apple cart. There is a company that just launched this week with a really good chance to take the lead in location-based advertising by being overt about their mission to support a cause and put 1000′s of people back to work in the process.

The company is AdXplore…and they have just sent out pre-national release engagement letters to 120 iPhone specific bloggers announcing 90,000 new jobs in the US for people with iPhones. These jobs are supporting location-based advertising.

In the end it won’t be about a game…it’ll be about a job.
http://www.ithnk.com Andy Moore

With a relatively low user base, I can see why you think Foursquare may be over-hyped… but to me to the hype might be justified. Here’s why:

Foursquare has the ability to reach those that chose to ignore Twitter (perhaps it was over their heads). Foursquare is simple and the rewards can be instant. Sure it will take businesses to get involved to offer the rewards, but why wouldn’t they? I’m pretty sure businesses still print coupons. When they realise Foursquare lets you distribute coupons for nothing it will become a no-brainer.

I also disagree with your love of Facebook. As a marketing tool, Facebook becomes less powerful everyday day. The reason being if you read the terms and conditions for pages – it is actually very difficult to “legally” run any sort of promotion.

Anyway this is just my 2 cents and I did enjoy reading your post. Guess time will tell.
http://www.absorbmedia.co.uk Russ Jefferys

Good to see some debate on this subject! In the UK, up until now, it seems Foursquare has struggled to gain much traction – not so much a problem only for them, but largely due to the ambivalence of geolocation as a whole.
What we’re seeing now is that, as Facebook Places enter the arena, suddenly awareness of location services is growing daily. Hence the upsurge in user accounts created at 4sq on the back of Facebook’s announcement: http://bit.ly/8XZ9Hd

I tend to side with the point that it’s only of real value when used by those you want to hook up with. Until that happens I’ll keep dipping my toe in, but nothing more than that.
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joe

After seeing the launch of facebook places they do seem to have learnt some lessons in their attitude to privacy and controls. There seems a bit of a window for foursquare, crowley seems quite a passionate dude in the geo area and see his point on the whole company branding thing, they can be a bit more risky.
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Why Foursquare Is Overhyped

My Real Friends Will Never Be On Foursquare

The Media Hype And Twitter Effect

The Mechanic Novelty Will Wear Off

It Would Be 1% Of My Marketing Strategy

My Bet Has Always Been On Facebook

I’m Not Totally Down On Foursquare

Tags

checkins
Facebook
Foursquare
grid
location based services
mayor
off grid
online

Tags

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