If you hang out with the cool kids, or are hiding in the bushes nearby listening to their conversations, you have likely heard of or are using Foursquare, the addictive location-based social networking game. For those that aren’t familiar with the new technology, the basic premise is that people take their fancy smartphones and “check in” to places such as restaurants, bars, parks and stores using the phone’s application or text messaging. You get points for checking in, unlock badges, find out where your friends check in, and compete to become the mayor of your favorite places (the person who has checked in the most in the past 60 days).
Combining the popularity of social networking, gaming and mobile applications has been a huge success for Foursquare and it doesn’t look like that will slow down in 2010. Businesses can use the service to increase their visibility, run special promotions and get a snapshot of their most tech-savvy and loyal customers. Customers can get special discounts and perks for checking in and holding on to mayorships.
With that said, there are some privacy concerns that users should be aware of and guidelines that will help make Foursquare better. The company is continually working out the kinks of the service by listening to the large amount of feedback from the community.
Everyone has their own opinions and preferences, but here is how I personally use Foursquare to get the most out of it while still addressing privacy issues:
- I only friend people that I know – Why? While I know that many people treat Foursquare like Twitter and follow/friend everyone in sight, I prefer to keep the social circle tight. I personally don’t need a crazy ex-girlfriend creating a fake account, friending me and then showing up at Starbucks one day to convince me that she “changed”. Just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it won’t as Foursquare hits mainstream popularity.
- I never check in to my home – Another popular Foursquare activity that I don’t understand, though the upcoming addition of private venues should help with this. People check in to their own houses and give out the exact location of where they live, while giving burglars real-time updates on when they’re not home. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s always the embarrassment of not being able to hold down the mayorship at your own home. Ouch.
- I send only select check-ins to Twitter and Facebook – Most of the time, I just want to get credit for the check-in and let my Foursquare friends know where I am. There’s no need to bombard my Twitter and Facebook friends with these updates, unless I have a comment to make in association with the check-in that might be interesting to them. Also, sending the check-ins to Twitter means the whole world can see where I am, something that I’d obviously like to be careful of.
- I only check in when I spend more than 10 minutes at a place or buy something – This makes me more “committed” to the check in, instead of just running through the mall, slapping the wall of every store, and racking up 92 check-ins in an hour. Although that would be a fun badge to earn.
- I keep the venues clean and updated – Periodically, I’ll go through my check-in history and clean up addresses and venue names according to Foursquare’s style guide. I’ll add relevant tags/categories and maybe a tip or two about the venue. It makes it easier for users to search for venues and find interesting new places to check in.
You certainly don’t have to follow my lead. Develop your own preferences and habits if you haven’t already. Just like other social networking sites, there isn’t necessarily a right or wrong way to use Foursquare as long as you’re not spamming or cheating. With the help of a strong user community, I’m looking forward to seeing how the company responds to feedback from power users while still being able to adapt the service for the masses.
Are you using Foursquare? Why or why not? What personal guidelines can you share? Post your thoughts in the comments section and thanks for reading.
Image credit: nydailynews.com
