Does the word(s) “foursquare” make you break out in a cold sweat? Is a “check-in” what you do with your boss on your “sick days?” Do you think LBS is a gastrointestinal medical condition? Then take a look at the following links* for a diy primer.
Some Foursquare Valentine's humor.
As a note, I know many, many, MANY people who have been dismissing things like Foursquare because they “don’t get it.” Read on, and you will. No excuses. I also know about as many people who are dismissing this as what I can only describe as “kid stuff.” In case anyone reading is unfamiliar with this blog, I will say this. Those “kids” (those of age, anyway) are your current and future consumers. They are the future of your career, of the wine industry, and countless others. Not in a “Heal the World” way, but in a “look at the numbers” way. Please keep this in mind.
LBS – wikipedia – the basics on LBS: Location Based Service.
Foursquare: Why It May Be The Next Twitter – Mashable – A Mashable article from July 2009. A great primer on Foursquare as well as some background on other examples of LBS (at the time, anyway). Don’t skip this one.
Why You Should Care About Foursquare – NPR’s Marketplace – Transcript (or broadcast file) from March 2010 with Kai Ryssdal and Caroline McCarthy from CNET discussing the most basic concepts.
If You Use Foursquare, You Are An Annoying Jackass – Gawker – Some hate from the folks at Gawker. This and a caption on LATFH basically make Foursquare an institution. Still waiting for the latter.
Foursquare For Business – foursquare – The breakdown from the folks at Foursquare on how to set your biz up on Foursquare, along with a few examples of how to make the most of it.
The best way to learn more about Foursquare, of course, is to join as a user. Based on your own experiences, likes, dislikes, wishes, aspirations, and habits, you will be more able to create a great experience through your business for other users.
*No, none of these links has been archived and pimped out for subscription money as was the case with the original link in my last post (now fixed, no thanks to AdAge).
Leah:
Keep being persistent like a stream of water going over a rock. Eventually you will wear a groove in the rock. Foursquare is bomb, it is real and will rule local commerce within one year. I am shocked when I talk about it or mentioned it in my recent speech Sell Me The Snacks, people never heard of it.
Jimmy the Grape
Excellent post, thanks! I was just checking out Foursquare, so this was very timely. Sometimes it is hard to sort the wheat from the chaff in the Social Networking space.
I was ready to criticize this post again for it’s significant lack of original content. However I decided to read some of the links, and then I set up my account with foursquare, and when I tried to fit it’s potential into my meager brain it became very clear this could be a great way to do local level connections.
See the post @http://bit.ly/dlFojr
IB
I originally was part of the crowd that did not understand the concept of foursquare.
As I got into it with my Blackberry BOLD I found it to be like any game such as farmville, or Call of Duty. It’s a form of geocaching.
The more exciting part of the foursquare game is it is real. You have to go out in the world to play. After a dozen or so “check ins” it becomes really a lot of fun. Sometimes I will take a detour on my way home specifically to check in at a location.
The only down-side I have found is often my Blackberry BOLD will be off in it’s GPS co-ordinates and it will say “your phone says you’re too far away” and not award me points. That’s frustrating!