Custom Digital Marketing, Social & Interactive Media Consulting
What is Foursquare?
Launched in March 2009, Foursquare was a free, location-based social network service for both mobile and (to a lesser extent) the web. Using the GPS hardware in the mobile device or network location via the app, registered Foursquare users could ’check in' at venues located nearby. Check-ins could be made via the mobile website, text messaging or application. Each check-in awarded the user points. Accumulating check-ins earned the user 'badges' which marked honors and achievements reached within foursquare. Checking in at a venue more than any other user in a 60-day span earned the user the title of 'Mayor' of that venue.
Then the summer of 2014 came along.
Back in May 2014, Foursquare (still free) essentially spun off the ‘check in’ and location sharing aspects of Foursquare into a new free app called Swarm, designed to be a companion app to Foursquare.
In August 2014, Foursquare released version 8.0, removing the check in and location sharing altogether, focusing solely on local search.
Foursquare now enables users to search for restaurants, nightlife, shops and other places of interest in the surrounding area where the user is located. Recommendations are personalized based on time of day, check-in history, venue ‘Ratings’ and the user’s ‘Tastes’ that they have entered into Foursquare.
Definition in part from Wikipedia, Foursquare
Positive Points:
- Free to sign up and use
- Offers free business tools - including analytics - designed to help attract and retain customers
- Primarily, nearly exclusively, accessed via a mobile device - in line with the increasing shift of Internet use to mobile devices
- 'Explore' functionality - users can search and discover points of interest based on their location, allowing users to find new places they may not have otherwise known about
Potential Pitfalls:
- Concerns over privacy - sharing your location tells everyone you are not at home
- User base on the small side compared to other social network services
- Adoption - getting users who are used to one app (Foursquare) to use both apps (Swarm and Foursquare) to get the most benefit
- Necessary to have a mobile device with GPS (a smartphone) to fully make use of the service -- not everyone has a smartphone
What is Swarm?
Swarm, launched in May 2014, is basically the ‘check in’ and location sharing aspects of Foursquare in a separate application. This split was designed to let the Foursquare app’s focus be more on exploring and discovering information on locations, a la Yelp. Conceived to be a companion app to Foursquare, a user’s activity within Swarm is used to improve recommendations in Foursquare.
Users can share their location with friends and see where their friends are in relation to them. Users can also check in with photos or stickers, as well as posting their check in on Facebook and Twitter.
Some of the social competition aspects of Foursquare (namely the “mayorship”) are now part of Swarm. The twist to Swarm mayorships is that you are only competing against your friends, not every user. You can also compete against your friends to be mayor of a particular venue category (i.e. - bars, parks, restaurants).
Definition in part from Wikipedia, Swarm, Foursquare
Positive Points:
- Free to sign up and use
- Integration/cross-posting with Facebook and Twitter -- accounts users likely already have
- Primarily, nearly exclusively, accessed via a mobile device - in line with the increasing shift of Internet use to mobile devices
Potential Pitfalls:
- Concerns over privacy - posting your location elsewhere tells everyone you are not at home
- Adoption - getting users who are used to one app (Foursquare) to use the companion app as well
- Requires action on the part of the user -- have to actually 'check in' to the venue inside the foursquare program
- Necessary to have a mobile device with GPS (a smartphone) to fully make use of the service -- not everyone has a smartphone