"Foursquare is a location-based mobile platform that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. By “checking in” via a smartphone app or SMS, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. Foursquare guides real-world experiences by allowing users to bookmark information about venues that they want to visit and surfacing relevant suggestions about nearby venues. Merchants and brands leverage the foursquare platform by utilizing a wide set of tools to obtain, engage, and retain customers and audiences."
My take on it is people use it to tell the world the cool places they are and the cool people they are there with. But it's more than just a bragging site. It's also:
- It's a way to tell the world the good, the bad and the ugly of what is going on there in real-time.
- A place to figure out who else is nearby so maybe you can arrange a quick hello or pint together. Just the other night in the Duke, a friend checked in just minutes after I did, so we walked around and found her and got her to join our table.
- And for businesses, it's a way to geotarget customers that may just otherwise walk right on by and not notice you. A great example of this one comes from our trip to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania (right near Scranton for you Office fans). We were checking in to our hotel, for real and on FourSquare. When I 'checked in' I noticed a little 'offer nearby' icon in the corner of my blackberry screen. So I clicked it and the offer said "Travelling? Look across the parking lot and you'll see the RadioShack. Show us this and you'll get pack of those batteries you probably forgot." Brilliant! I hadn't even noticed the RadioShack in the complex we were in. So we went in, got our free pack of batteries and bought 3 other things well were there.
