My friend Mary posed this question on Twitter this morning. Can someone explain why Foursquare matters? What’s the point? I’ve been getting asked a lot lately about the value of Foursquare and other location-based networks, especially with the very recent launch of Yelp’s own location-based functionality and the buzz around other tools, like Gowalla. To be fair, two years ago everyone asked the same thing about Twitter (some still do.)
Instead of trying to cram an answer into 140 characters for Mary (and others) I thought I’d take 5 minutes to weigh in here and hopefully start a discussion, with a written-in-10-minutes-stream-of-conscious blog post. Enjoy 
Why these thingies matter, for regular ol’ people:
- Knowing where your friends are: This is the core concept behind all of these networks (and the reason that a network like Rally is taking the functionality back to basics.
- Discovering new places around town: Depending on which network you are using, this can be even more valuable - tips, reviews - but they all allow you to see a list of places in your geographic vicinity.
- Meeting new people: Before Twitter was as popular as it is now, it was a great tool for meeting people (it still is, with a little more work.) If I was downtown, I’d check the stream of people I followed, but hadn’t met, to see if anyone was nearby - which was a lot more work without geotagging. Now, when I check-into a place, I can see if anyone else is there, even if I don’t know them, and say hello!
- Discounts: This is something that hasn’t caught on much in Central Ohio yet (though I do know BalletMet and Impero Coffee are offering Foursquare discounts) but in larger, more tech-centric cities, a ton of businesses offer discounts for being the “Mayor” (Foursquare term), or just for visiting frequently.
- Just for fun. All of these networks have some sort of gaming element - leaderboards, titles, virtual goods. They’re fun.
Why these things matter, for businesses:
Any other reasons you can think of? What’s your take on these tools?
Erika Napoletano says:
Love the thoughts. Cheryl. A few more to add to your list:
* Endorsement-based marketing at its best. Couple this with your peer influence and it’s marketing that businesses can’t buy. Aside from check-ins, places with more “shouts” on FourSquare rank up there with top “Yelped” locations.
* An emerging niche. FourSquare is ideal for businesses starting up on a tight budget. Partner an emerging mobile app with an emerging consumer-facing business and you’ve got promo.
* Untold B2B applications. Think what would happen if B2B outlets took the Foursquare approach. Commercial printers - reward your best customers with a percentage off their next order after 5 check-ins. Businesses looking to save in this economy would have more incentive to get out and check in all over town.
Jan 19, 2010, 2:33 pmMRMaguire says:
Very helpful post, Cheryl. Thank you! Your explanations made sense. If I were in my twenties, I would definitely be using it to meet new people. However, as a “woman of a certain age,” (and married) I haven’t had a need for this type of socializing. But you did make me think with checking out places where my friends visit. (Admittedly, most of my friends are NOT on Twitter..lol)
I think it’s a great boon for entertainment businesses. Word of mouth travels even faster when people have an easy way to find your business.
I think from this post I just determined that I have indeed, become a die-hard homebody.
Jan 19, 2010, 2:38 pmCheryl says:
Great points, Miss RedHead! A huge reason for start-ups and other small businesses to try social tools out is exactly that - the “newness” of them make them a viral, interesting, and usually free promotion.
I’d be enthralled to see some B2B applications of Foursquare, et al. Keep me posted if you find any!
Jan 19, 2010, 2:39 pmCheryl says:
Mary- LOL. Well… I tried. But I hope now you understand why some people, like me, are addicted to these tools!
Jan 19, 2010, 2:40 pmMRMaguire says:
Cheryl, you succeeded! LOL
I may put it on my iPhone and test it. I do admit whenever anyone posts the link to their location, I look!
Jan 19, 2010, 2:44 pmDave Huffman says:
I wonder how much the average “Mayor” spends a month on eating out, getting drinks, etc?
I bet eMarketer is already on top of that one
Whatever it is, I’m sure once businesses see those numbers - everyone will be hopping on board.
I’m pretty much in the late majority with these things - but Mary, you could really benefit from the reviews on Yelp.
I’m married - nearing a “certain age” and with child, so I won’t be “checking in” too much anywhere, but the Yelp reviews definitely help if and when I do decide to leave my cave.
Jan 19, 2010, 3:43 pmDan says:
I think that these services will only continue to add members, and discounts. I like the deals offered through 4sq, it’s a great idea but it would be nice to see it catch on more. I think that the “point” of these services differ, but geolocation is pretty much the new in thing right now, and you’ll only see more services start to integrate this in to their feature-set, not less.
As far as their purpose, I think that (at least from an end-user perspective) it is just another element of the social aspect of social networking. Do people care where I’m eating lunch? Probably not, but coupled with a service like Yelp or 4sq (where I can write a review or get a special deal if the venue offers one), these services become infinitely more useful.
I find it interesting that Yelp, 4sq, and Gowalla all use the two big powerhouses of social networking (Facebook and Twitter) to spread the word. It’s not required by the services, but all of them offer Facebook connect and the capability to tweet directly from the app. It’s a great way to take an idea for social networking and then piggyback it on to an existing (and established) service. I keep reading articles about how Facebook will eventually go the way of Myspace (that is to say, people will start leaving in droves for the next big thing). I personally don’t think it will happen. As we see from these emerging social networks, Facebook has become as much a platform as it is a social networking site.
Kind of a long winded response, sorry. I guess ultimately there will be people that never get the point of social networking in general. Plenty of people hate Facebook for various reasons, I still have people ask me about Twitter and why I have and use an account, and people have asked me the same thing about these new services. I’m an information junkie– always have been, always will be. These services offer me a way to find out what my friends are up to, find new places to check out, and to share with my friends my thoughts and activities. To me, that’s awesome.
Jan 19, 2010, 4:28 pmNate Riggs says:
Great post Cheryl (as always),
I’ll add in that I think that businesses have a ton to gain by using check in information on Foursquare to learn more about specific customer preferences (eventually). What if a business used a simple monitor in the back kitchen to pull up the feed from check ins to their location? They would be able to know exactly who came in and over time, what their preferences were. Location based has a lot of power in helping businesses deliver better customer service…
Jan 19, 2010, 1:20 pmJacob Stoops says:
I agree with Nate. Businesses have loads to gain (and learn) from the types of exposure that location-based networks can bring. The level of service that a business can deliver just by making use of this technology is truly unparalleled.
Jan 19, 2010, 3:27 am