Am I the only one who's gotten past the honeymoon period with Foursquare and is wondering what the point is anymore? Lately I've found myself either not checking in at all or feeling kind of like a chump when I do bother to check in.
There seems to be so much hype about Foursquare and geolocation apps in general, but I can't shake the feeling that most of the hype is coming from people who in some way stand to make a profit off Foursquare rather than users. So far my experience with Foursquare has been very lukewarm: first I had to manually input most of the places I checked in at since I live in the burbs where nobody else was using it. Then I checked in a bunch and got caught up in the hype about how Foursquare was the next big thing and surely me spending time checking in constantly would result in something cool. Then I kept waiting. And kept waiting. And I'm still waiting.
Sure, more companies seem to be doing Foursquare promotions of some type...but a lot of them are still stuck on the notion that the ultimate prize is a badge. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't care about badges. If I'm taking my real-life time to do Foursquare, ultimately it will require some kind of real-life reward for my trouble or I'll lose interest. Stuff like a badge for getting checked for an STD? Not so much. A $100 Sephora gift card would be cool, but nobody seems to be doing stuff like that in Olney, MD.
To me, the difference between, say, Twitter and Foursquare, hype-wise, is that with Twitter, initially you may not find it useful but the more you use it, the more useful you find it. With Foursquare, the more I use it the less useful I'm finding it. As to all the hype about Foursquare being the next Twitter, I'm just not seeing it. If Twitter disappeared today, I'd be a wreck--I get news from Twitter, I connect with people, I use it as a search engine. If Foursquare disappeared, I'd maybe fidget for a minute or two the next time I bought a movie ticket, wanting to check in, but then I'd probably forget about it.
How about you? Do you think Foursquare is still up-and-coming or has it already jumped the shark?
Foursquare Fatigue
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Jonathan Salem Baskin is an author who writes a regular column on Advertising Age & posts on his award-winning blog. Read more»
John H. Bell heads up the 360° Digital Influence team & teaches graduate studies in Digital Influence at Johns Hopkins University. Read more»
John A. Byrne is chairman & editor-in-chief of C-Change Media Inc. & the author or co-author of eight books. Read more»
Vanessa DiMauro is the CEO of Leader Networks & has been creating successful online communities for over 15 years. Read more»
Maggie Fox is the founder and CEO of Social Media Group & was named one of the Top 100 Marketers in Marketing Magazine. Read more»
Rachel Happe is a Co-Founder and Principal at The Community Roundtable & a blogger at The Social Organization. Read more»
J.D. Lasica is a consultant who is considered one of the leading authorities on social media & user-created media. Read more»
Brian Solis is author of Engage, & is recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders & authors in new media. Read more»
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Tue, 2010-09-14 13:38 — shoes tradeMlconley said:
Q: Do you think Foursquare is still up-and-coming or has it already jumped the shark?
A: I haven't experienced Foursquare Fatigue yet. I use Foursquare for my own personal enjoyment & because it saves me money. Just last night, I got $30 off a $90 purchase at Express. The night before I saved 10% on my check at a local restaurant, and the day before that I used Sports Authorities $10 off Foursquare special. It's saving me money, and it's still fun for me. I don't go badge crazy, but I do enjoy using it. (Although I did post about an issue I had with the Gap's 4sq deal that resulted in the Gap apologizing and offering me a gift card).
However, I see your point! Where I live in NJ the Foursquare buzz has really picked up a lot lately. I am launching specials for the two hotels I work for in Red Bank this week. But I can see what you mean about it not being as big in MD. I think very soon it will begin to benefit you as much as it has for those of us living closer to big cities.
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Tue, 2010-09-14 11:40 — Megan ConleyKCPRguy said:
I, too, have my gripes with FourSquare. My main one being that in order to check-in to an establishment, you need not actually physically be at that location, but only near that location. So essentially, a FourSquare user could become the mayor of an establishement without ever having visited that establishment. He/she only needs to be near that establishment for his/her mobile to pick up that location. I've seen establishments 15 miles away show up in my search results. If two or more people were in a battle to become mayor, it would certainly be enticing to check-in to that establishement without having to visit it.
Another gripe is when employees check-in to their workplaces. It seems many times that I'll check-in at a retailer to find out the mayor is the girl helping me. Granted, if a business is active on FourSquare, they should have protocol in place prohibiting employees from checking in. Although, as a business, I would want my employees to check-in to build the FourSquare activity. But, I would not want them to become mayor. I don't believe there's a way to allow employee check-ins, but disable them from becoming mayor.
For Maggie's post, I do agree with what Marcus said. FourSqaure, as of now, is most active in larger metropolitan areas. When I visiting Chicago, the "specials nearby" icon was constantly popping up on my app when I checked in. And, a couple of times, the specials got me through that business' door. Living in Kansas City, I am seeing more activity on FourSquare from businesses. Basically, if the businesses aren't valuing FourSquare and participating, there isn't much for FourSquare users to do.
The badges and mayorships tie in a sort of gaming component to FourSquare. I actually love the badges. They are like little Easter eggs; a nice surprise when I collect one. And if two or more more people are competing for mayorship of a particular business, they will likely frequent that business more to check-in and move toward the mayorship. At least that's the idea behind it (see previously gripe about checking in above).
Overall, I think FourSquare needs to better educate businesses why they should actively be using the platform. Like I said, when I was in Chicago, businesses all over were using FourSquare, making me want to check-in around the city just to see what types of specials were nearby.
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Tue, 2010-09-14 11:17 — KCPRguyKennith B. Inge said:
Maggie, I can agree with you partially. Based on my experience using Foursquare, I too, am burned out. I do not see any real value or reasoning for using the service. Initially, it was fun showcasing areas that I am visiting. However, after a while, I was either continuously going to the same locations (where's the fun in that) or completely forgetting to sign in altogether.
At the same time, I think the value is that it can be used to track your monthly visits for budgeting purposes or for check ins when I am really out somewhere new or actually interesting to people on Twitter or Facebook. Then, there is value. Of course, you now have Facebook for that so what's the point. Why Foursquare? Well, Foursquare can post to Twitter as well so if you do have both accounts, one app, one post. With Facebook Places, I would have to log out of one, then visit the other. That's too much especially considering the fact that I do not use the service as much as I use to.
Foursquare has a job on their hands because they have to provide a value and make the game more fun for the users vs. acquiring badges. That's boring. At the end of the day, to answer your question, I think it has a ways to go and I do not believe they are running out of steam. At the beginning of the year, I said that this would be the year of Foursquare and it has been so far. They just need to bring more to the service to pull in more users and to keep existing users engaged. That is the task the company is facing.
Good article.
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Mon, 2010-09-13 17:14 — Kennith B. IngeMuphoric Sounds said:
I can't put the onus all on Foursquare. They used the geo-targeting technology and paired it with a great marketing tool directly linked to business. It's now "businesses" turn to start using it. The MTV campaign showed the power of it, however, retailers, restaurants, venues, don't realise that every time a person checks-in to their business, it's free advertising. Businesses need to partner with Foursquare and incentivize the check-in; they could make a killing.
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Mon, 2010-09-13 15:03 — Vanessa WarrenRobo965 said:
Agree whole-heartedly. I do admire their effort to expand and develop alliances with companies like MTV in creating new badges that raise awareness on a given subject, something that has undoubtedly aided it's popularity since the launch of Facebook Places.
But, your comparison to Twitter, and comment on Twitter being more useful as time goes on is right on target. Foursquare is past chapter one of creating a successful social media site, now it needs to focus in on chapter two: maintaining a successful social media site.
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Mon, 2010-09-13 09:17 — Aaron RobisonRegina Walton said:
Not really, but I live in NYC and I'm connected to a big group of others who use 4sq.
I think those two factors play out in how it works for me. Sometimes I enter new venues and that doesn't bother me all that much because it's rare. What bothers me most is the Android app is slow to update my location, so sometimes I've been smack in the middle of a place yet 4sq is telling me that I'm not there. It's because my phone's GPS has caught up to where I am.
However, I've also connected with friends as a result of checking in. Example: Once I went shopping at a store and checked in there. A friend who lives just a few blocks away saw I was there and invited me over for a visit after I was done. I've had that happen in a few different contexts. That's just the most striking one.
It's a much more urban thing than a suburban one right now. Also, until there are tangible deals that people can get for checking in, fatigue might continue. I checked in to one place, saw there was a deal but it wasn't something I cared about (in the venue's defense though, it was geared towards regulars and that makes perfect sense.)
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Mon, 2010-09-13 08:49 — Regina Waltonkuratowa said:
I think FourSquare has potential, but it has to do a better job of selling the idea to businesses that it is a built in viral customer loyalty program. Too few businesses give awards for Mayorships, and although I like getting shiny badges, and have worked to actively unlock some, the terrible fact is far too many of the badges are locked to specific geolocations that make them impossible to win without cheating (I don't live in L.A. or New York, and the TLC and Bravo check in locations are too sporadically saced cross country). While I will zealously guard my Mayorships for my favorite local eateries, the incentive to expand out is not there as it should be. Gowalla and Facebook Places will also dilute Foursquare's ability toleverage that aspect.
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Sun, 2010-09-12 23:09 — kuratowaPrakky said:
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Sun, 2010-09-12 22:12 — Prakkymardod said:
I would have to agree. I've only been using it for a couple of weeks and I don't see any advantage to using it, despite all the hype. I suspect unless a practical purpose can be found for it in the next couple of years, it will go the way of Google Wave.
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Sun, 2010-09-12 15:23 — mardodMarcus said:
While there is some merit in what you're saying, the reality is that foursquare was made by a bunch of fun-loving/seeking guys in NYC. Being in a major city is what makes foursquare work. And being able to see when/where your friends are checking in is great. If I lived in suburbia, I would see no use for foursquare.
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Sun, 2010-09-12 14:31 — MarcusJoe Spake said:
My wife showed a bit of frustation when we arrived at a nice restaurant for our anniversary dinner and I paused to check in on 4Square. And Yelp, And SCVNGR. I feel your fatigue.
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Sun, 2010-09-12 14:27 — Joe SpakeMatthew Olson said:
There are two ways to look at the Foursquare market: as a business and as a user. For users, there may be an element of fatigue because businesses are not building the rewards mechanisms possible. By giving users a reason to participate beyond the honeymoon period, it will "keep the party going."
For businesses, it is an opportunity to build a form of loyalty normally difficult to even imagine. Creating a reward system for users sharing their locations with their interest community will be a big help in keeping your brand top of mind. Businesses sometimes show fatigue, but is it due to failing to inform their customers about Foursquare and its rewards. A great example of this is Joe Sorge's AJ Bombers.
While user-fatigue may be very real for Foursquare users, but it is up to the businesses to step up and engage for their benefit.
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Sun, 2010-09-12 13:25 — Matthew Olsonwindycityexpat said:
i agree with you. i actually never really got into it in the first place. the important people in my life know where i'm at and often are with me. and what's up with the "clever" names for home?
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Sun, 2010-09-12 13:13 — windycityexpatPost new comment