Comments on: Can Someone Explain Foursquare to me? http://mikemcbrideonline.com/2009/12/can-someone-explain-foursquare-to-me/ Thu, 03 May 2012 11:50:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Mike McBride http://mikemcbrideonline.com/2009/12/can-someone-explain-foursquare-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-706 Mike McBride Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:22:42 +0000 http://mikemcbrideonline.com/2009/12/can-someone-explain-foursquare-to-me/#comment-706 Marv, <br /><br />I have seen some mentions of Gowalla but haven't really looked at what the differences are. I can see where that would be kind of fun along the same lines as geocaching. <br /><br />Just to clarify, I'm not really saying that I like to keep relationships online and not offline, just that I'm not sure I don't already do quite a bit of meeting people without the help of Foursquare, so why use another service? Besides, if that was really the point, why do I see so many people "checking in" from home, work, a grocery store, the gas station, etc. Those aren't places to meet up, so what exactly are you trying to accomplish? Or maybe I'm just underestimating the amount of free time other people have to randomly meet up with people. ;-) Marv,

I have seen some mentions of Gowalla but haven't really looked at what the differences are. I can see where that would be kind of fun along the same lines as geocaching.

Just to clarify, I'm not really saying that I like to keep relationships online and not offline, just that I'm not sure I don't already do quite a bit of meeting people without the help of Foursquare, so why use another service? Besides, if that was really the point, why do I see so many people "checking in" from home, work, a grocery store, the gas station, etc. Those aren't places to meet up, so what exactly are you trying to accomplish? Or maybe I'm just underestimating the amount of free time other people have to randomly meet up with people. ;-)

]]> By: madmarvonline.com http://mikemcbrideonline.com/2009/12/can-someone-explain-foursquare-to-me/comment-page-1/#comment-705 madmarvonline.com Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:03:36 +0000 http://mikemcbrideonline.com/2009/12/can-someone-explain-foursquare-to-me/#comment-705 Just to muddy the waters even more, have you tried Gowalla? It's like geocaching except you drop virtual trinkets at certain physical locations. The next time a Gowalla player visits that location IRL they can pick up the virtual goodie and leave their own treasure. In my own circle of friends, Gowalla seems to have more appeal than Foursquare. <br /><br />I think Foursquare may be trying to do something like Gowalla, but failing upward. They are trying to make socializing around a specific location cool, except they can't come up with a good reason for people to go to any particular spot. In spite of that, they are getting popular because of all the buzz around accidental connections people make through Foursquare. If you are into Tweetups and meetups in general, this can be a useful toy. If you like to keep relationships unphysical, then Foursquare is pointless. Just to muddy the waters even more, have you tried Gowalla? It's like geocaching except you drop virtual trinkets at certain physical locations. The next time a Gowalla player visits that location IRL they can pick up the virtual goodie and leave their own treasure. In my own circle of friends, Gowalla seems to have more appeal than Foursquare.

I think Foursquare may be trying to do something like Gowalla, but failing upward. They are trying to make socializing around a specific location cool, except they can't come up with a good reason for people to go to any particular spot. In spite of that, they are getting popular because of all the buzz around accidental connections people make through Foursquare. If you are into Tweetups and meetups in general, this can be a useful toy. If you like to keep relationships unphysical, then Foursquare is pointless.

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