Thursday, February 18, 2010

Foursquare questions you didn't ask answered

You might have noticed in "Social media here to stay (call the cops)" that there was a mention about Foursquare, but I never explained what it was. I've being doing a test run for the last three weeks. So here's what you need to know about this exciting app:


* What the heck is Foursquare?

It's a tool you can use on a smartphone. With it, you tell your friends where you are.

* Is that it?

Pretty much.

* Then, what's the point?

No point. You just tell people where you are and, if you choose, you broadcast it to the world. But Forsquare disagreees:

foursquare aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and then reward people for doing so. We do this by combining our friend-finder and social city guide elements with game mechanics - our users earn points, win mayorships and unlock badges for trying new places and revisiting old favorites.
* Can't I just call my friends?

Yes. But you'd have to figure out how to use the phone in your smartphone. And who wants to actually talk to friends, anyway?

* What other uses does Foursquare have?

It fills the page at Pleaserobme.com, a site that lists "recent empty homes" and "opportunities" and it's trying to show you that maybe, just maybe, it's not such a good idea to use Foursquare.