Why I Hate Foursquare
Perhaps it’s not politically correct for the CEO of a digital marketing company to express his disgust with a strong new entry into the social media consciousness, and yet here I go. I hate Foursquare. OK, my kids tell me that “hate” is a really strong word, so let me rephrase – I strongly dislike Foursquare. And I don’t care who knows it.
Advocates of Foursquare say it’s the next big social media marketing platform. They say that businesses small and large should try to attract members of Foursquare because it will help them promote their business online. Even the New York Times has picked up on the hub-bub, so it has officially entered the public lexicon.
Foursquare is basically a social media game, which requires players to “check in” at various locations they visit as they vie to become the Mayor of that location. A dubious honor, this mayorship can sometimes lead to – are you ready for it? A free cup of coffee! Coupons for dollars off a sandwich! Maybe even a crown you can wear around town to let people know of your superior status.
So why do I hate Foursquare? Because its participants — many of whom reside in this very office and are people I trust and respect — continue to feel it necessary to share with me through their Twitter and Facebook streams exactly where they are at all times, and what they are buying/consuming/eating etc. Frankly, I do not care where you are. I don’t care that you are bra shopping. And I don’t care that you just unlocked the super-sonic, gold-plated badge level like some Worlds of Warcraft fanboy.
And I certainly don’t care that you are the mayor of the Hillcrest Subway. Or the mayor of Bailey Gardiner for that matter. What makes you think anyone actually does care, except for you and the owner of the business you are promoting by telling me where you are?
There are a lot of great online business models that already offer geolocation services and popularity ratings – and way better in my opinion. User generated content and public rating systems are not new, and there are great platforms like Yelp, Loopt, Chowhound, and even grand-daddies like TripAdvisor, that allow me to check people’s opinions about all sorts of things. But on my own time and according to my own set of search criteria.
Having people barge into my social media stream with updates about their current location is pretty much spam. It’s uninvited information from people I actually like, making it really hard to just turn off their Facebook updates or unfollow them on Twitter.
So do us all a favor Foursquare junkies – disconnect your relentless updates from your social media streams so we don’t all have to witness your trips to Subway, Starbucks and Target. Then you can become the Mayor Of Wherever The Hell You Want, and I don’t need to know about it.
Was this article helpful?
