What is Foursquare and all the hype about it?
I must admit that for some time, I neglected Foursquare and any other location-sharing application. Usually, I am an early-adopter and anything social-media fascinates me; however, the fact that people could know my exact location freaked me out a little bit. Being the social media freak that I am, a few weeks ago I decided to give Foursquare a chance. What would another social network do to me? (Already having accounts with Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, digg, del.icio.us, Google Buzz, Flickr, Linkedin, etc... ) So far, I am addicted to it!
One thing I absolutely love about Foursquare is the ability to determine to which networks I want to share my location with. I have synced Foursquare with Twitter and Facebook, however since my Foursquare group of friends is more limited, every time I check-in and only want to share my location with some friends, I only check-in with Foursquare.
(See more about syncing Foursquare with Twitter and Facebook on the How-To section below.)
Foursquare was made live about a year ago during SXSW. According to their website: "We're all about helping you find new ways to explore the city." It lets you share your location with friends, unlock badges as you check-in at different places and earn points as you meet new people and discover new places.
It is important to mention that even though you can do check-ins through your computer using the web-interface; to fully take advantage of Foursquare you should have a mobile device with GPS capabilities and download their mobile app.
Another important fact about Foursquare is that business owners are taking advantage of it to market their businesses. It helps them know the people that visit their locations, what are people saying about their location and to even promote their business by running special sales/offers. Some businesses are awarding special items to their "Mayors".
How to use Foursquare:
- Create an account. [ www.foursquare.com ] You can create your account by either typing all your info or connecting Foursquare to your Facebook account. Once registered, you'll be taken to your profile page. Make sure to fill in all the required information. Uploading a photo is important since it'll allow you to become the mayor at places you frequent.
- If you signed up through their web interface, now you'll need to download the mobile version to take the most advantage of it. If you registered through the mobile app then ignore this step. Below you'll find the download links to be used through your mobile phone.
- iPhone - [ download link ]
- Blackberry - [ download link ]
- Android - [ download link ]
- Palm - [ download link ]
- Other devices - [ download link ]
- After you've downloaded the mobile app, now you can sync Foursquare with your Facebook and or Twitter account. (optional). Doing this, will allow you to share your location through these social networks if you decide to do so.
- Check-in. Once you've completed the steps above you'll be set to start checking in at different locations and start unlocking badges.
- Add. If you arrive at a location and this location is not yet registered in Foursquare, you'll be able to create it and let others check-in as well.
Foursquare - Important terms:
- Check-in - Works the same as a regular hotel check-in. Once you arrive to your destination you check-in and this will let your friends know where you are. Foursquare will award you with badges depending on your check-ins.
- Badges -These are rewards earned based on your check-ins. Some badges are earned with the amount of check-ins per day and other badges have specific requirements. Click here for a list of some badges and how to earn them.
- Mayorship - Users are called "Mayors" if they are the user with the most check-ins at that specific location.
- Tips - Tips can be added to any locations as a recommendation for its visitors.
- To-Do's - These are the things you find around and want to eventually do.
Other location-based applications:
- Recently, Facebook released their own location-based app called Places.
- Gowalla
- BrightKite
- Google Latitude
- Whrrl
- MyTown
- Loopt
- SCVNGR
What do you think about location-based apps? Are you Foursquare user? Which location-based application do you use?