A User's Perspective on Foursquare

Until you've used Foursquare, you may not understand what all the hype is about. After all, it's nothing more than a means for your friends to find you when you're out and about, right? And if it's nothing more than that, couldn't you accomplish the same thing by just sending a text message to your friends or simply tweeting it?

Well, sure.

But let me explain Foursquare to you from the perspective of a girl who in recent weeks has gone completely bonkers over one of the hottest social media trends happening right now.

When I first began using Foursquare, I assumed I would tire of it within the first month, maybe even the first few weeks. From what I knew about the social-media platform (which was very little at that point), I could see the benefit of having something like Foursquare available when I lived in New York and had friends spread across four boroughs and three states. (It might actually make it easier to meet up with some folks from time to time and grab a bite to eat.) But now that I live in the 25th largest city in the U.S., it's much easier to find my friends. There are only so many places a person can go and my friends and I tend to stick to the same neighborhood and its popular hangouts anyway. We're bound to run into each other eventually! But after playing around with the application for a few weeks, I was hooked, and here's why:

It's fun. Checking into venues, collecting badges, competing with friends for points, and becoming Mayor if I check into a specific venue more than anyone else on Foursquare . . . This is the gaming aspect of Foursquare and we all know how fun games are!

It's easy. Instead of texting my friends or, um, calling (can you imagine?) to let them know that I'm currently at our favorite restaurant and they should stop by, I can just check in on Foursquare and leave the rest up to them. And since I have the option to send my check in information to Facebook and Twitter, I can also alert my friends who aren't on Foursquare - yet.

It's motivating. If there's one thing I do more of now that I'm on Foursquare, it's going out into the real world and engaging with real people. I dine out more often (usually at restaurants that my friends often check into), meet up with friends more often, and even go the gym more often. (I'm currently the Mayor of my gym and while this is strictly due to no one else checking in on Foursquare yet, I still want to hold onto that title for as long as I can!)

It's mysterious. While there are a handful of documented badges out there, new badges are being created all the time. I never know which check in will trigger that "Overshare" or "Socialite" badge, but when it does, it's down right fun!

I get stuff. I recently checked into a movie theater with my husband and discovered a "deal near-by" pop up for three scoops of Ben & Jerry's ice cream for only $3. All I had to do to get the deal was show that I checked in on Foursquare. And Ben & Jerry's isn't the only company doing this. My friends and I have received everything from free fried pickles to free soda and half-price beer just by clicking a button on our Smartphones!

It gives me voice as a consumer. Each time I check into a venue, restaurant, gym, theater, bar or shop, I'm casting my vote for that business, at least once. Whether that business is paying attention or not (which they should be), I'm not only announcing to my friend's that I'm at this place, but I can tell them about my experience there too. And I will. Foursquare allows me to leave tips for others and will even pop-up an alert when I'm at a nearby establishment where one of my friends has left a tip. And we all know how powerful word of mouth recommendations can be.

So while I may absolutely get on the nerves of my husband and my friends and colleagues because I'm constantly fumbling around with my phone each time we walk into a place of business, or getting in heated discussions about badges that should exist and "wouldn't it be neat if so and so had a deal," I simply can't help myself! Foursquare has found a unique way to combine social media with real world interaction and that's something we could all stand to do more of.

3 Things I Learned at the Mashable Media Summit

I was fortunate enough to attend the Mashable Media Summit in New York last week, which they put on in partnership with CNN. It was filled with great takeaways, cool resources and even plain old funny content (what else can you expect when the speaker roster includes representatives of The Onion, College Humor and URDB?), but here are the top 3 things I feel were most important with applications to content developers like myself, small businesses and anyone who uses social media:

1. People want content that comes to them.
Both sportscaster Len Berman and Motorola representative Christy Wyatt each voiced this message in different ways. Len was referring to the 2008 presidential election and hearing young people say they don't turn to the news anymore, but rather the news now comes to them – especially through Facebook and Twitter feeds. "There's no faster way to get the news and information than on Twitter," he said. "It's on Twitter before it's anywhere else." Keep in mind this is coming from someone who grew to fame using traditional media, but has since expanded his horizons and opened professional doors using the web as his primary voice. He adds that the instant two-way conversation is the best thing about new media.

Christy, who was hawking the platform Motoblur (successfully, I might add – every attendee received a free smartphone!), was talking about the rise of mobile web. "People don't want to go to data – they want data to come to them," she said, comparing the time-consuming, battery-draining installation process (such as mobile apps, an obvious criticism of the iPhone) to the ease of directly connecting (mobile web). With more and more people using their phones as mini computers, users want mobile-friendly websites that use push notifications – almost like a text message – rather than pull notifications reserved for your desktop computer. Again, the user doesn't have to actively seek out information – their phone (or the social connections within their phone) sends it right to their pocket.

2. Foursquare is the next big thing. (Probably.)
I've said it before, and so have my colleagues – businesses shouldn't ignore Foursquare. But even though some may blast it (Time magazine calls it "the next generation of creepy social networking"), enough early adopters – including major brands – are supporting it that Mashable and others are calling it the next Twitter. As one moderator said, "The whole experience of checking in is still foreign to people, but you can compare that to the two years Twitter spent explaining why they were tweeting."

And more than 1.5 million users are checking in, and often. But what's so refreshing about founder Dennis Crowley (as compared to the lack of privacy concerns of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg) is this quote:

People that get most concerned about privacy are not the ones that have used [Foursquare]. I'm not a fan of the passive check-in model.

This means that as "creepy" as Time considers this new social application, the founder has spoken out against what I personally consider the creepier versions of location-based social networking, those that use your GPS to track where you are and automatically check in for you. No thanks. I like Foursquare for the same reason I like the e-newsletters I receive – they're opt-in, and it's my decision to actively check in/sign up.

The Foursquare discussion gave some insight into their business model. They've gone from six employees to 25 employees in the past year. They just had their developers take two weeks off from developing new features to focus on fixing functionality problems. (Don't we wish we all had time to focus solely on fixing problems?) And though they did develop an iPhone app, they didn't develop apps for the Android or Blackberry operating systems. Instead, they spent time developing their API (essentially, the interface that programmers use to create third-party applications – like Facebook Connect or TweetDeck) in hopes that someone else would develop the apps for them. And it worked.

Of course, we're not all that lucky, having developers knocking at our doors to create applications for us. But there's more in the works for Foursquare, including the idea of rewarding frequent visitors other than the mayor, so I highly recommend checking out what Foursquare can do for your business. Need an example? Listen to what Robert Smith Hotel has done with social media – and how well it's worked.

3. Content is still king – but find your niche.
My professional title has the word "content" in it, and so does my company's logo: Custom Media, Custom Content. So it's refreshing to hear these speakers constantly say things like, "Great content is a terrible thing to waste."

That quote comes from Chris Bruzzo with Starbucks, and he had a plethora of social media success stories. But throughout this conference, no matter who was speaking, content remained at the forefront of conversation. Mashable talked about how their team posts 25+ new pieces of content per day. College Humor's CEO discussed their success with branded content. CNN covered user-generated content. Even Foursquare was called "socially filtered location content."

In fact, I found the discussion between CNN and Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore (swoon) to be probably the best out of all of the great sessions. I liked it because they didn't always see eye to eye, provoking some of the best conversations. Television content is broad and general, web content is passion-based. CNN spent two years developing an iPhone app, while Mashable instantly offered up an iPad app that has since undergone six revisions. Even as user-generated content soars, CNN says it will never rely entirely on iReporters for a story: "If we let it go to purely user-generated content, it would be the lowest-common denominator," Sanjay Gupta said.

Two of the commonly used, relatively unknown (to me) phrases I heard were "curating" and "niche verticals". Mashable does both. They curate content, rather than aggregate it – select relevant news from throughout the web while giving it their own spin. As far as their niche, social media, they don't just confine themselves to that subject; rather, they will examine it from all angles, thoroughly and purposefully. A wide range of mini-topics all spin off from the central, core subject – causing what they and others called a niche vertical.

At the end of the day, your site is only as good as your content is. If you sell apples, I don't expect you to tell me how to grow oranges. But I do expect you to tell me how to grow apples, offer apple recipes, tell me the difference between a Granny Smith and a Red Delicious, and let me know how to reach you to buy apples – or just to ask a question. As the era of social media expands, remember: It's all about making connections.

Want more? Check out Mashable's recap of the Media Summit – includes complete video of all major speakers.

Five Reasons To Start Paying Attention to Foursquare

Like Facebook and Twitter before it, Foursquare is the newest social media tool riding a wave of buzz these days.

Foursquare, Gowalla and MyTown are part of the growing trend of location-based mobile applications.

Generally speaking, these services work by allowing you to "check in" on your smart phone wherever you go -- information that is then shared with your circle of friends.

The idea is that when you see others are doing and they see what you're doing, you'll be more likely to meet up and explore new places in your city. The apps also allow user to earn points and unlock badges for discovering new places, doing new things and meeting new people.

It's fun -- and growing. Foursquare now tops 1.2 million people who have "checked in" 40 million times. But why should businesses be paying attention to these services? Here are a few reasons.

1. They create free advertising opportunities to people already in your area


At its most basic, Foursquare is really all about businesses in your area. Where are you going to eat, drink or shop? Where are your friends going? This creates huge opportunities for businesses to increase their reach.
Nashville-based Tasti-D-Lite was a Foursquare early adopter. When you are near their West End Ave. location and log in to Foursquare, the app alerts you to deals like the one at left. What a simple, great way to spread the word!

2. They're catching on with big brands...
It's hard to ignore a trend that every major company from Starbucks to Domino's to the Wall Street Journal to Bravo is embracing. These brands and many more are buying into the geolocation craze early, siting the possibilities for content marketing, brand loyalty and more.

3. ...but smaller businesses have their own advantages
In my Nashville neighborhood, I'm more likely to hang out at a local restaurant than a chain like Starbucks. For people like me, Foursquare is a welcome reminder of all the sometimes-overlooked eateries and shops that don't have the big advertising budgets to catch my attention on a daily basis. Wherever I go, I can search Foursquare for unique, off-the-beaten-path places, even checking for tips left by others who've been there before.

4. They allow customers to advertise their loyalty
Pretty much all these applications build in rewards for loyal customers. In Foursquare, competition is often fierce among users to become the "Mayor" of a venue--a feat achieved by checking in at a place more often than anyone else using the service. As the service becomes more well-known, more businesses are catching on and providing perks to Mayors and other frequent visitors, thus generating more good word-of-mouth for the small price of a free soft drink or dessert. It's the online equivalent of a loyalty card, with added cache.

5. They turn users into viral marketers for the places they like


Not only do location-based applications provide a platform for businesses to market to customers, they also turn users into influential voices for the places they discover or frequent. Foursquare features include tips and "to-do" lists any user can create, which serve to champion local businesses.
Foursquare is also open to partnering with entities to create complete city tours with their own specialty badges--something the city of Chicago spearheaded and a model that's now being followed by other cities and states.


To learn more
To get started learning more, a good first step is to simply go to Foursquare and find out if your business is listed and what customers are saying there.
When you're ready to go further, here's a great primer on using Foursquare to promote a business.

UPDATE: The blog Brand Builder just posted a great, comprehensive guide to Foursquare for businesses.

Asheville Filmmaker Plans Social-Media Themed Comedy in Her Hometown

Last Sunday, I caught about 20 minutes of You've Got Mail and giggled when I saw Meg Ryan waiting for her dial-up modem to connect to the Internet so she could log her into AOL account, so she then could see whether Tom Hanks had sent her another message.

Remember the sound of dial-up?

Then I wondered, "When are we going to have a new wave of blockbusters that correspond to our newer forms of social networking, featuring things like Tweetups, not-so-chance-meetings because of Foursquare, or perhaps something along the lines of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist but with a blip.fm twist?"

Film production companies have been marketing movies on MySpace and Facebook for a while, and many A-list celebrities have been shouting from their laptops into the Twitterverse almost as long. However, I'm surprised that we've not seen any big productions – yet – that heavily interweave everyday social media channels into the plot, other than the Facebook movie, The Social Network, that is supposed to be released in October.

I'll follow that statement with a disclaimer: I don't go to movies much, so it's likely I may have missed something. Along the same line, I have terrible cable channel options, as I haven't had enough room in my heart for cable ever since MTV made a marked shift away from actually playing music.

Remember the first video on MTV, The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star?

So maybe the Facebook movie will be the first, but I also saw a tweet this morning that interests me even more than Justin Timberlake playing the role of Facebook Founding President Sean Parker. According to @AskAsheville via @GSocialMedia not only is another film of this type on its way, but it will also be marketed largely through social media channels, and it will be filmed in one of JCI's communities, Asheville, N.C., for which we produce Asheville Travel Guide, Asheville magazine, imagesasheville.com and feature on Livability.com.

The movie is being created by Asheville filmmaker, writer and comedienne Angela Shelton, a name you may know from the 1999 film Tumbleweeds, which she co-wrote (it has an awesome soundtrack, by the way). More recently, Shelton has gained a higher profile through her documentary and book by the same name, Searching for Angela Shelton, for which she drove around the country, seeking out all of the other Angela Sheltons she could find. She thought this concept would yield mostly funny stories, but through her interviews she also discovered that most of them shared something else with her besides a name: Seventy percent of these women had also been abused at some point in their lives.

As friends and supporters promoted the film and book via Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, Shelton saw the power of social media. That power, combined with her desire to switch gears to focus more on her comedic skills, inspired this new movie, a romantic comedy titled Online Dating for Food. Yes, there already is an OnlineDatingForFood facebook page for the film, but here's another disclaimer: Be aware that if you "like" it, people may just think you're into the act of online dating for food and not the film. I'm not making any judgment one way or the other on online dating, you just may not want to advertise that you're doing it for food. That could ruin your whole plan!

A movie involving food in Asheville makes perfect sense, of course. Shelton knows her hometown of Foodtopia. The social media aspects will make it only more interesting.

Will it be as big as You've Got Mail or The Social Network? That remains to be seen, but stay tuned to your favorite social media channels to watch it develop.

In the meantime, you can learn more about Angela Shelton and her latest project at Angela Shelton's website, and here is the link to the interview with @AskAsheville about Online Dating for Food and why she's hoping to do this film (and two others) in Asheville.