Before this year’s SXSW event kicked off, a number of bloggers suggested that this year’s breakout hit might be foursquare, a new location-based social application with a gaming twist that was created by the guys behind the now-defunct Dodgeball service. As the ‘interactive’ section of the festival winds down, I think it’s safe to say that foursquare was not the must-have app of SXSW the way Twitter was two years ago. But it had a strong showing, and once I actually figured out which of my friends were using the service (which is more difficult than it sounds), I found foursquare to be an indispensable app during my time here.
foursquare’s primary function is to help you figure out where your friends are. Users frequently ‘check-in’ with the app to update their current location, which is then broadcast to their friends. At this point the service primarily operates from its recently-released iPhone application, though users can also check-in from the foursquare website (at least in theory – more on that later).
Aside from a basic ‘friend’ system, foursquare’s social features are pretty limited compared to services like Loopt and Brightkite. In lieu of a full-fledged social network, foursquare incorporates a gaming element, awarding users with points and merit badges for ‘checking in’ at a variety of locations. It’s here that the app really shines: these rewards give users an incentive to check-in frequently (a necessity given the fact that the iPhone can’t automatically update your location as you travel), and it’s far more fun than it sounds.
Badges are awarded for completing specific activities, like venturing outside of the city limits, or checking in from a roving karaoke RV (they exist, and they’re awesome). Most badges are ambiguously named and the criteria for unlocking them is a mystery, which makes ‘figuring out’ how to earn them a fun game in itself (some of the criteria for the badges at SXSW began to spread virally at SXSW, and were often the topic of bar chatter). By the end of my week here I found myself ignoring the points system altogether – points seem to be awarded for totally arbitrary reasons and my rank of 240th on the service’s leaderboard was discouraging. But my desire to unlock more badges never waned.
foursquare is surprisingly fun and addictive, but the application has some really annoying flaws that may have kept it from reaching its full potential at SXSW. For one, inviting your friends to join is far more painful than it should be. There’s no way to use phone numbers in your address book to see if your friends have registered, nor can you send your friends invitations to join from within the app (I eventually resorted to manually Emailing my friends). And the foursquare website oddly has even less functionality that the iPhone app. The developers are well aware of these omissions (most of them were dropped as they tried to get the application ready in time for SXSW), but that didn’t make them any less frustrating.
The real test for Foursquare begins now that SXSW is winding down. The awards system worked perfectly for the five-day event, but I feel like any sense of urgency to earn badges will be gone once everyone heads home. That said, Foursquare could easily build a business centered around multi-day conferences and concerts, creating customized branded applications for each event (it could even potentially charge restaurants and other POIs that wanted to get listed as one of the event’s badges).
Foursquare was built by the guys behind Dodgeball, an early location-based social network that was acquired by Google in May 2005 and languished there until it was finally axed in January. The new service have quite a few similarities, though foursquare benefits from the GPS and slick interface afforded by the iPhone.
Too convoluted to work in India. Here, if we want to meet friends, we just go to the village square and squat.
yes, and if you squat and push a little…. you start losing those friends!
I dont get the reason for branding so closely to the last one? Is that some sort of trademark?
Looks like the reasons to get an iPhone are starting to outweigh the downsides.
Fun and smart apps are popping up like mushrooms and the software is getting better.
You meant to say the hardware is getting better right?
You forgot to mention MobiLuck (m.mobiluck.com), the fastest growing location-based mobile social network.
It will soon reach 1m members worldwide!
Cheers,
Olivier
Prediction: this will die a sad death. A service where the user is required to do a lot of work in order to make the creators of the service wealthy. You heard it here first!
Wow, anyone launching a new social network in this saturated market is braver than I!
thanks jason, that link to Twitter 2 years ago was hilarious…”It’s really just a glorified Facebook status”. hindsight is a crazy thing.
BTW, i think something’s wrong with FB Connect on TC. it shows me: Welcome, null?
i just don’t get it. brightkite is far superior. what is all the hype about?
I managed to wrap up SXSW as the #2 user of FourSquare in Austin. I thoroughly enjoyed how it also switches back to San Francisco now that I’m home and has a new set of badges and a new scorecard so I can win it here as well.
The #1 most points winners (Chris) was cheating the whole time which was a bit disheartening to me but that’s life.
This is my FourSquare account:http://playfoursquare.com/web/user?uid=829
When I go out at night I relax, eat, and drink with my friends. Only an absolute loser would use an application like this and actually care about winning. Bouncing around the city to gain virtual points and badges? LAME! Just enjoy what you are doing and stop worrying about the need to broadcast it to the world. Adam Jackson, you need a girlfriend stat.
Yeah and I am sure a real intelligent person calls themselves anon and reads blogs just to post their insults to others ans uses words like loser and lame.
The internet was a great place until people like you were given access. Sorry I mean idiots like YOU
Good Luck in life may you get all that you deserve and more!
I have been online since 1987. Thanks for the kind wishes.
I cant believe you got more points that me! Jeeez…
What was interesting was how quickly the point system got integrated into my daily activity.
This is not a social network. Yes, it has a friend/profile component, but its really just a way to interact more effectively with your movements and activities (and the people you consider real friends)
Very interesting application of location and activity. Looking forward to see it working in other cities…
“and it’s far more fun than it sounds.”
Define “far”, because this sounds utterly boring and devoid of fun.
So in actual usage, to what fun level is this app? Are we talking twiddling-your-thumbs fun or watching-paint-dry fun??
I like how the website logo has a girl with a white streak shooting out from between her legs. Foursquare! Just like in the school days!
I gotta be honest no one down here in SXSW is using FourSquare or talking about it.
You should know by now that TC doesn’t care about reality. They just care about promoting products that they are either paid to under the table, or which are backed by successful entrepreneurs (the hole you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours thing). Now got Twitter Linux Monkey. Twitter Twitter Twitter Foursquare.
Great post! Check out my site too http://macmaniapodcast.com.
Wish I would have heard about this app sooner. My last day @SXSW was yesterday.
I need an ap to hide my location. Why would I want to tell anyone that information and why would anyone care? I hear it only works on the Ihype/iPhone. Good! Another excuse NOT to get that phone. It’s a toy that people will forget about two months from now.