Dear Foursquare Friends: I Don’t Care Where You Are. Love, Jay
I need schooling. Specifically, I need someone to explain the appeal of Foursquare, a.k.a. the TMI of GPS.
For those of you who are unaware (lucky bastards), Foursquare is a mobile application where you “check in” upon arriving at a destination. As you accumulate check-ins, you win prizes, or “badges.” Check-in to a single location enough, and you’re declared its “Mayor.”
For the record? The first friend who attempts to become the Mayor of my apartment earns himself an ass-kicking.
If you’re on Facebook or Twitter and have any friends with a half-modern mobile phone, chances are you’ve seen your share of Foursquare check-ins. Personally, whenever one floats through my media-stream, I think of “The Game,” that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where the crew of the Enterprise gets addicted to a headset that doles out warm tinglies for every point scored. All that’s missing is the brain-jack. Seratonin for iPhone, anyone?
Oh, sure. Call me jealous. Dismiss my complaints as the bleating of a technophile wannabe whose current cell phone looks like a prize from a box of Cracker Jacks. (No, those aren’t tears. Got sumpthin’ in my eye. Shut up.) But really, guys – I don’t care where you are. I mean, I care in a general way. You at home? Work? On a trip to the Bahamas? At a convention listening to a life-altering speaker? That’s great – let us know. That’s newsworthy among friends. But I don’t need latitude and longitude. I don’t give a shit that your hankering for day-old corn dogs has made you Mayor of the 7-11 at 91st and Roosevelt. I’m your friend, man – not your professional stalker. For that, I charge extra.
David Kornik, a Foursquare user, ponders the impact this game will have on privacy. Do we want Big Brother – whose role, formerly occupied by the government, is now being played by Corporate America – to know our every moment? Oddly, that doesn’t bother me. I’m a TMI kind of guy who’d happily trade privacy for a big red shiny. Give all the information to Corporate America you want, my lovely online friends. Just don’t give it to me. Friends don’t tell friends their coordinates.
Writer and father of four in Seattle, WA. It is my dream to be a professional smartass. Until then, I'm working pro bono.
Nice post. Wow, I’ve never heard of foursquare! It doesn’t sound that appealing to me, so someone else will have to educate you on the value of sharing your digits…I mean, coordinates.
I totally agree with you on many levels about Foursquare. I considered it completely pointless for the user, but the company was probably taking the data and selling it off to the highest corporate brand to find out more about people with nothing better to do than tell their friends where they are.
That being said, one person did explain something to me about Foursquare that I have yet to see for myself, but anticipate is going to be huge soon. Say you check in at the Starbucks down the street from your work/home and there’s another local coffee shop close by, you could get an announcement that says something like, “Try us instead. Check in with us an we’ll give you a discount or free swag or something.”
No that Foursquare is making deals with media companies, you can assume that you’re going to get more information pushed at you every time you check in somewhere. I’m not saying it’s right, or that I like it, but it is the future of the app.
I am of the lucky few who had no idea of this.
Not anymore, though. =)
Thanks for your very witty and ascerbic post! I’ve quoted you in my blog on the FourSquare thing at http://blog.emoderation.com/2010/02/foursquare-thing-whats-all-fuss-about.html. I’ve TRIED to see all sides!
Tia Fisher´s last blog ..The Foursquare Thing – what’s all the fuss about?