Whats Foursquare All About? Simple Guide From A Power User

Foursquare July 31, 2010 15 Comments

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a little obsessed with location based services and none more so than Foursquare. Yes, there are others out there like Gowalla & Yelp! and it is rumoured that Facebook will bring in some sort of check-in feature in the not to distant future but Foursquare is primed to own this space and as one of their biggest fans I’m here to tell you why!

What is Fourquare & why are users falling over themselves to check-in?

Foursquare is the hottest location based service with over 2 million users and growing steadily. The application allows you to tell your friends where you are at any given time and also gives you the option to push this through to Facebook & Twitter. Some people argue that they don’t want their friends to know where they are, that’s fine… just check-in off the grid and keep your whereabouts secret but still gain the points.

Foursquare is a game, each week everyone starts on a clean slate with 0 points. Each time you check in you are awarded points and you battle it out throughout the week with other users in your city or just keep it amongst friends to see who can accumulate the most points.

Badges and Mayorships

So what else gets users crazy about checking in? Badges and Mayorships; Foursquare allows users to unlock all kinds of unique badges for completing different tasks, for example I recently unlocked the Barista badge for checking in to 5 different Starbucks – there are some badges that will drive you crazy when trying to unlock them but it is important to remember that some are city specific, here is a nice list of some of the badges available.

Mayorships are another kettle of fish altogether, there are some serious battles happening around Dublin right now for the Mayorship of various venues and locations. It might sounds a little complicated but basically, a user becomes the Mayor if they have more check-ins over a 60 day period than anyone else. I am desperately trying to win back Mayorship of Simply Zesty while holding off competition for St. Anne’s Park – its tough being Mayor but it really gets you out more :-) Note: at the time of writing this I was not Mayor but you will be happy to know that I have now taken back what was rightfully mine.

Tips on getting more out of Foursquare

Users are setting up locations all the time and another useful feature is that they are adding tips for these venues. These tips are very beneficial and even more so if you are visiting a foreign city and not sure about what the best sandwich is or what time a bar gets busy at. User generated content is powerful, even more powerful when your friends are providing it.

Foursquare is FREE for Businesses

The only reason I see the growth of Foursquare slowing down is if businesses such as bars and restaurants chose to ignore it. Some restaurants and hotels have some really excellent offers, for example, head down to Wilde – the Restaurant in The Westbury Hotel and avail of a 3 course dinner when checking in on your birthday! or after your 5th checkin to the Camden Court Hotel you can enjoy dinner for 2 for €50 with a free bottle of Prosecco in The Iveagh Restaurant

It only takes a little imagination to do something a little different, I think businesses such as bars, restaurants, coffee shops, even the Guinness Store house could all be doing something. Why not claim your business now:

How could Foursquare improve their service?

Gowalla & Yelp! both allow users to add pictures when they check-in, I think it is a must for Foursquare to do the same. Maybe some sort of integration with QR codes or Sticky Bits? No matter what they have planned, I think the future is very bright for Foursquare even if it takes a while for everyone to check in :) Would be really interested in hear what everyone thinks about location based services in general and what features they would like to see.

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