Foursquare for Newbies

Every few days I come across a friend of mine who has never heard of Foursquare, or is not interested in logging onto it. So, I decided to create this small guide as an intro to new users.

 

For all of you interested in joining 4sq, head onto https://foursquare.com/download/

From there, download the app for the Android, Iphone, Blackberry, Nokia or most other phones.

 

Finish all the formalities and then start adding friends from your Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or Yahoo accounts. Simple link for the same is https://foursquare.com/import/

 

Once this is done, just simply start checking into places that you visit.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit, that after some time I got bored of just checking in, but then I discovered badges. Badges are essentially these tokens as such that you receive, once you have met a certain criteria (checked into x number of venues, or checked into one venue x number of times. more info at http://www.4squarebadges.com/ )

Once I started collecting badges, I was completely hooked. Now, whenever I go out, I’m always checking into some place or the other.

 

As of today, I have 1,590 checkins, 48 Badges and I have been using 4sq for 232 days.

 

There are multiple reason why people use Foursquare. The 6 top reasons are as follows

 

1. PLAYING A GAME

This is the hook for a lot of the early adopters of Foursquare, the game that is built into the service. You check-in and add locations for points, you compete for mayorships, you seek out badges. This is not a long-term, consistent utility for most users. However, the competition and changing landscapes of mayorships and badges bring a layer of “New” to the service, a constantly changing reward ecosystem that users can fall in and out of favour with users as it evolves.

2. FINDING FRIENDS

The check-in adds data to a social map. When you check-in you are telling your friends “I am here, you know, if it is relevant to you.” When you view where your friends currently are, Foursquare becomes a social planning utility that allows you a snapshot of where people you know currently are. Finding a group of friends, the best party in town, or even that you and a friend are eating lunch in the same place can become a very helpful tool for any user.

3. MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Social networks have fully embraced the status update popularized on Twitter. Foursquare contextualizes status updates around a location and an event. From mundane endorsements like “The Turkey sandwich at Cafe X is quality” to the marketing savvy Brogan-esque “I just signed 4 copies of my book at the local Borders.” Simply using Foursquare as a status update tool adds another layer of data that can be very useful to an audience. And it makes it easier for someone to add that context.

4. GETTING SUGGESTIONS

The single act of seeing a friend check-in to a location is a suggestion many times. Seeing where your friends go can be a great discovery too.

Foursquare tips are starting to get more attention, but are still the most powerful and most under-publicized part of the service. Restaurants like AJ Bombers have used tips to push certain products through encouraging their patrons to leave tips. To leave a “tip” is to tell the world “Hey, there is value here.” When you go to a new city, browsing the Foursquare tips centred around your current location can tell you anything from what salon to avoid to what restaurant has the best brunch or the best happy hour specials. When someone cares enough to leave a tip, the value of that suggestion is headed by other users.

5. GETTING REWARDS

The most talked about utility of Foursquare is the reward systems many businesses are adopting, especially restaurants. Mayor’s get a free drink or dinner. On your 10th check-in you get a free t-shirt or on your first check-in you get free chips and salsa, as Chili’s did. This may be the biggest utility for the average person. Money is a big mover in social media. If you can help people save money, they notice. They like it. They talk about it.

6. RECORDING HISTORY

Foursquare has a history of everywhere their users have checked-in. This is probably the least utilized of all the utilities to date, but has great potential. Our check-in history, or “footpath” as location based service Whrrl calls it, has tons of untapped value. As a resource to find places you have been in the past. To match up with other social networking activity to add location context to the photos we have taken or trips we took. Even as historical records of events. This utility is not a big use driver today, but could be a big part of Foursquare and other location based services in the future.

 

 

 

I shall be putting up more posts regarding Foursquare, and I shall also put up a Badge List soon.

 

In the meanwhile, happy exploring.