Where’s Waldo?
Last week I signed up for Foursquare, mostly because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and I figured as a self-described social media consultant I ought to at least know what it does. So far I am not sure what to think…
Foursquare says it “gives you & your friends new ways of exploring your city.” To some, it simply smacks of 1984 — only you volunteer your location to the world. Once my locations started popping up on my Facebook profile I received several comments from friends. When asked what it does, I said it lets your friends know where you are. One Facebook friend responded with a virtual shoulder shrug, as if to say “I don’t get it.”
While it’s too early for me to see the full value of Foursquare, I do see at least one valuable business application — people can leave comments about businesses for others in the area to see and that can be a powerful way to drive business to a location. That certainly makes some sense if your client is a restaurant or other retail business though I’m not sure there is a b-to-b application.
I’m interested to hear from others who are using Foursquare on what they see as the business value. I get the social value, but again, why should I us it for business?
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Comments
March 15th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Len – I take the opposite view to you. I see the business value but not the social value.
Knowing where people are isn’t social. Even leaving tips isn’t really social, it’s just sharing information (would you class a restaurant review as social).
However from a business perspective, bricks and mortar companies can reward their customers with special promotions – driving traffic and building brand / venue loyalty.
Foursquare is nothing more than a game but one that has real world benefits if you want it to (or at least it will). The only reason people refer to it as a social network or social media platform is because that seems to be the de-facto phrase for any website that lets people share stuff.
March 15th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Starbucks has just done a deal with Foursquare to provide rewards to frequent visitors. Other bars and restaurants offer discounts to Mayors. Foursquare can be a powerful tool to see who has good customer service, and who encourages brand loyalty.
That being said, I’m careful not to friend anyone I don’t personally know on Foursquare, and I’ve quit publishing my Foursquare checkins automatically to Twitter and FB. I think it’s fun to participate in everything, and you know I’m an early adopter, but the flip side is that I protect my whereabouts somewhat.
Also, never check into your house. You’d think people could figure that one out:-)
March 15th, 2010 at 9:54 am
From a business standpoint, there is value. The Mayor plug in 4Square promotes and rewards audience frequency, and create friendly competition to frequent that business more. And as Francine mentions above, the Starbucks promotion rewarding for brand loyalty.
I also see it geared towards traveling businesspeople and sales. Discovering and networking in new places. But with anything Social, careful how, who and where you use it.
March 15th, 2010 at 10:16 am
Your feature star today Tyler Hurst had a good post last week on why he’s stopped using FS – I’m kind of along his lines.
http://tdhurst.com/foursquare-gowalla-locationbased-services
and I also like what Paul Carr wrote at TechCrunch last week about this year’s hot location-based app will be still be . . . Twitter.
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/09/location-is-the-new-just-kill-yourself/
March 15th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I’m not a big fan of it. Maybe I just don’t have a good use for it yet.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Agree with Dan here. Great for businesses to reward customers.
March 16th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
I’ve been using foursquare regularly now for about 8 or 9 months. My wife and I use it for fun mostly. We post it to our twitter accounts. I personally don’t have any issues with posting my whereabouts. I’m pretty easy to find, even without foursquare. If I don’t post it to twitter, then I’ll most likely tweet about where I am, and what I’m doing. On the flip side of it, I use it for business as well. I run the twitter account for @CkGrill. We’re a local restaurant & bar where everyone knows everyone. We welcome all newcomers, and even friendly competition in the form of who the next mayor is going to be. We offer happy hour pricing all day long to the current mayor. For some people, that’s a big deal. And to us, as a business, this is just one more way to connect with our customers. It’s one more thing for people to talk about at the water cooler. And when THAT happens, we all win. They’re having fun trying to beat each other out of the mayor position, and we connect with our clientele.
One more great aspect of it is the “tips” section. People have left some great tips for you to read when you check in. If it’s my first check in to a place I’ve never been, I always check for the tips. I want to make sure that I’m not missing out on anything on my first visit. Foursquare may not necessarily help you explore your city, but it does connect you and your friends to experiences that you may not have had without foursquare. After all, it’s only a game.
March 18th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Len,
To be honest, I haven’t figured out foursquare so I’m really glad you posted this blog. I first found out about it from Francine, as I find out about a lot of new stuff by following Francine, but I wasn’t sure what it’s purpose was.
Reading all the comments definitely gives me more to think about, but I’m still not sure I’m ready to try it.
Valley PR Blog » Blog Archive » Checking in on FourSquare after two weeks Says:
March 29th, 2010 at 10:50 am
[...] started using geo-location app FourSquare about two weeks ago as an experiment in social media and so I could discuss it intelligently. And while two weeks is not nearly enough time to make a [...]