I have been trying Foursquare for the last few weeks and am truly amazed at the potential of this new “social media” product .
For those of you not acquainted with foursquare it is a mobile way to tell your friends where you are (or have been) via a notification and map. It can connect with twitter and facebook. You can earn badges, awards etc. and if you frequent a place can become “mayor” of a location.
There is a lot of on-line discussion about why anyone would want to constantly tell people where they are or why would they want to know where there friends are every moment that reminds me of the early days of twitter. In those early twitter days the naysayers could not believe that anyone would be interested in what you are doing right now. Well businesses , entrepreneurs and early adopters soon found effective ways to use twitter. We watched as relatively obscure people rose to rock star status (think Gary Vaynerchuk) and monetize their brands in new and exciting ways.
Whether foursquare is the next twitter or facebook remains to be seen but it certainly has possibilities. This article in Fast Company talks about recent developments with foursquare. There may be more potential to monetize with foursquare with a lot less work on the part of the business than with any other social media product today.
Of course there are some inherent problems. Fear for safety by users being a top concern voiced on-line. As with twitter I believe people will soon adapt, checking in using common sense.
A way to check-in with friends who may be close to your location, get discounts at the stores you are shopping in right now, offer real time tips regarding business and locations…and we are only just beginning.
What do you think about foursquare?
