Geo-social networking site Foursquare is now a little over one year old and playable at any location worldwide. Though originally providing its location based service to only roughly 100 metropolitan areas, anyone can now "check-in" at any location internationally through the use of a smart-phone application, text message or checking-in online. With mild similarities to popular social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, Foursquare differentiates itself by making an online game out of the real world.
Going to the cafe down the street? Check-in online. Is that cafe a site-specific venue in your city? If so, you might earn a badge. Have you now been to that cafe more times in the past week than anyone else? You are now its online Mayor. Through travelling to, engaging with and spending time at real locations, Foursquare players compete by encouraging real experiences.
The competitive aspect aside, what makes Foursquare truly unique as a social networking site, is that all of its social networking takes place face to face. Criticism is often heard that though Facebook and Twitter may connect people, they do little to produce the real, interpersonal interactions that modern society is so often accused of lacking. Foursquare, on the other hand, encourages people to not just engage in location based competition, but to meet up with friends, share a location, or join a friend for a drink upon noticing that they have once again "checked-in" at that cafe down the street.
Though it is reminiscent of those times when you might coyly put something in your Facebook status (for example) like "studying hard at the library, 3rd floor, 8th desk on the left near the window," but really mean "please, please, please come visit me, distract me, take me from this hell," through Foursquare, you unabashedly make your location known for the purpose of social play. And though some may feel that frequently letting people know of your whereabouts may encourage real world "creeping" (also known as stalking), well then, simply don't check-in if you don't want to.
Though it is now internationally available, Google Trends shows that Foursquare is still relatively unpopular in Ontario. Despite ranking third in searching trends, the majority of top searched cities are in British Columbia, and only one is an Ontario urban centre, and it is not even Toronto, a city that tends to be on the trend-edge (or thinks so). With Foursquare's inherent capabilities to inform, mobilize and foster greater social interactions, here's hoping that it begins to catch on more locally.
Imagine using Foursquare to make a game out of, and encourage more people to come out to, events such as the recent Open Doors Hamilton. Checking in at the Blue Grotto (pictured left), the nearly forgotten lounge located above the Capri, and motivating friends to either meet you there, or try to track you down as you visit other sites.
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