Maybe I don't understand what it's about correctly, but why the fuck would anyone take part in this? Besides virtual "badges", or whatever, what do you win?

Ace said:

Maybe I don't understand what it's about correctly, but why the fuck would anyone take part in this? Besides virtual "badges", or whatever, what do you win?

Well, the game mechanics are just part of it to make things a little more fun. So, if you check in to a venue more than anyone else, you become the "Mayor" of that venue. And the venue can offer cool stuff to whoever is the mayor, or even just for checking-in. For example, a coffee shop near me offers free coffee to the Mayor, a bakery nearby offers 10% off the price of one item just for checking-in and any item for free if you're the Mayor.

Then you've got the social aspect. If a friend of yours checks-in in your city, it will give you a pop-up notification alert on your phone. So you'll know where that friend is. So groups of friends who regularly socialize together and use Foursquare, won't have to phone/contact people to find out where they are.

People can also leave tips at venues, and other people can vote on the helpfulness of the tips. For example - I was at an airport (I forget which one, may have been Toronto) recently, I went to check-in on Foursquare and I saw a tip that said "the main customs line is usually busy, but there's another less obvious one around this corner that's generally empty" - obviously I'm paraphrasing, but I checked it out, and got through customs in less than half the time it would have taken me otherwise. At restaurants, the most popular tip will usually be "try xxxx on the menu", and so you know whatever item that is will be pretty good if lots of people have voted on that tip.

On the most basic level, it just encourages you to go out and do stuff! You better believe I'm not giving up any of my mayorships without a fight! As it uses GPS, whereever you are, it shows you the list of places that are nearby to you, and what people have said about those places. Another example, I was on the light rail system in downtown Portland a while back and I decided to take a walk by the waterfront. I then headed towards the city, and decided to check Foursquare - it informed me that there was a record store nearby that had gotten some great tips. I checked it out and now it's one of my favorite places downtown I doubt I would have ever just discovered it on my own.

This is a basic overview of how it works, but really I just suggest you try it out for a few weeks and get to grips with it. If you decide after that, that it isn't for you, fair enough - but I'll personally vouch for the fact that it's a lot of fun for me and my circle and it's been extremely helpful in a variety of situations.

Oh yeah, and you can view your check-in history on the website, so if I wanted to remember what I was doing (and with who, if you've gone somewhere with fellow Foursquare users) on any specific day since I began using Foursquare about 18 months ago, I can simply check the site, which is fun.

[Edited 3/15/11 20:02pm]

Militant said:

Ace said:

Maybe I don't understand what it's about correctly, but why the fuck would anyone take part in this? Besides virtual "badges", or whatever, what do you win?

Well, the game mechanics are just part of it to make things a little more fun. So, if you check in to a venue more than anyone else, you become the "Mayor" of that venue. And the venue can offer cool stuff to whoever is the mayor, or even just for checking-in. For example, a coffee shop near me offers free coffee to the Mayor, a bakery nearby offers 10% off the price of one item just for checking-in and any item for free if you're the Mayor.

Then you've got the social aspect. If a friend of yours checks-in in your city, it will give you a pop-up notification alert on your phone. So you'll know where that friend is. So groups of friends who regularly socialize together and use Foursquare, won't have to phone/contact people to find out where they are.

People can also leave tips at venues, and other people can vote on the helpfulness of the tips. For example - I was at an airport (I forget which one, may have been Toronto) recently, I went to check-in on Foursquare and I saw a tip that said "the main customs line is usually busy, but there's another less obvious one around this corner that's generally empty" - obviously I'm paraphrasing, but I checked it out, and got through customs in less than half the time it would have taken me otherwise. At restaurants, the most popular tip will usually be "try xxxx on the menu", and so you know whatever item that is will be pretty good if lots of people have voted on that tip.

On the most basic level, it just encourages you to go out and do stuff! You better believe I'm not giving up any of my mayorships without a fight! As it uses GPS, whereever you are, it shows you the list of places that are nearby to you, and what people have said about those places. Another example, I was on the light rail system in downtown Portland a while back and I decided to take a walk by the waterfront. I then headed towards the city, and decided to check Foursquare - it informed me that there was a record store nearby that had gotten some great tips. I checked it out and now it's one of my favorite places downtown I doubt I would have ever just discovered it on my own.

This is a basic overview of how it works, but really I just suggest you try it out for a few weeks and get to grips with it. If you decide after that, that it isn't for you, fair enough - but I'll personally vouch for the fact that it's a lot of fun for me and my circle and it's been extremely helpful in a variety of situations.

Oh yeah, and you can view your check-in history on the website, so if I wanted to remember what I was doing (and with who, if you've gone somewhere with fellow Foursquare users) on any specific day since I began using Foursquare about 18 months ago, I can simply check the site, which is fun.

[Edited 3/15/11 20:02pm]

Thanks for taking the time to clue me in, Militant! I doubt I'll try it, but now I have a much better understanding of it!

Again, thanks for your thoughtful reponse!

Ace said:

Militant said:

Well, the game mechanics are just part of it to make things a little more fun. So, if you check in to a venue more than anyone else, you become the "Mayor" of that venue. And the venue can offer cool stuff to whoever is the mayor, or even just for checking-in. For example, a coffee shop near me offers free coffee to the Mayor, a bakery nearby offers 10% off the price of one item just for checking-in and any item for free if you're the Mayor.

Then you've got the social aspect. If a friend of yours checks-in in your city, it will give you a pop-up notification alert on your phone. So you'll know where that friend is. So groups of friends who regularly socialize together and use Foursquare, won't have to phone/contact people to find out where they are.

People can also leave tips at venues, and other people can vote on the helpfulness of the tips. For example - I was at an airport (I forget which one, may have been Toronto) recently, I went to check-in on Foursquare and I saw a tip that said "the main customs line is usually busy, but there's another less obvious one around this corner that's generally empty" - obviously I'm paraphrasing, but I checked it out, and got through customs in less than half the time it would have taken me otherwise. At restaurants, the most popular tip will usually be "try xxxx on the menu", and so you know whatever item that is will be pretty good if lots of people have voted on that tip.

On the most basic level, it just encourages you to go out and do stuff! You better believe I'm not giving up any of my mayorships without a fight! As it uses GPS, whereever you are, it shows you the list of places that are nearby to you, and what people have said about those places. Another example, I was on the light rail system in downtown Portland a while back and I decided to take a walk by the waterfront. I then headed towards the city, and decided to check Foursquare - it informed me that there was a record store nearby that had gotten some great tips. I checked it out and now it's one of my favorite places downtown I doubt I would have ever just discovered it on my own.

This is a basic overview of how it works, but really I just suggest you try it out for a few weeks and get to grips with it. If you decide after that, that it isn't for you, fair enough - but I'll personally vouch for the fact that it's a lot of fun for me and my circle and it's been extremely helpful in a variety of situations.

Oh yeah, and you can view your check-in history on the website, so if I wanted to remember what I was doing (and with who, if you've gone somewhere with fellow Foursquare users) on any specific day since I began using Foursquare about 18 months ago, I can simply check the site, which is fun.

[Edited 3/15/11 20:02pm]

Thanks for taking the time to clue me in, Militant! I doubt I'll try it, but now I have a much better understanding of it!

Again, thanks for your thoughtful reponse!

I literally have the Foursquare sign-up page open on a separate tab. After seeing it pop up on a few tweets and such I was curious and thinking about joining it...Reading the description, I don't see myself signing up for this. Just doesn't seem to be my thing.
If I'm checking in at a hotel/airport I don't want random friends knowing. If I haven't told you directly by either email or phone call then I probably don't want you to know I'm there.

[Edited 3/21/11 22:11pm]

I don't want anyone know where I'm at, ever!

JerseyKRS said:

I don't want anyone know where I'm at, ever!

This is the correct answer.

when I get a free [ha!] moment, I have to research this (and Gowalla) for work.. we have a lot of locations around the US where kids and/or adults can visit and go on hiking trails, attend festivals, take classes, attend spring/summer day camps, attend movie screenings, etc., etc.

We already have lots of apps and ringtones, but if folks can do even more with us with their gadgets....

Genesia said:

JerseyKRS said:

I don't want anyone know where I'm at, ever!

This is the correct answer.

I don't know if it ever happened, but I heard last yr that -- possibly -- if you ever "checked-in" at home, later whenever you checked-in at other places it could/would let the bad ppl know when you're not home, opening you up to get robbed.. (I think b/c they can view what locales you checked into if you have a locale in common..?)

seems like a long shot, but

one of the things I don't like about Facebook is they made it so that other ppl can check you in w/o your knowledge/permission (they eventually added the ability to disable that)

PositivityNYC said:

Genesia said:

This is the correct answer.

I don't know if it ever happened, but I heard last yr that -- possibly -- if you ever "checked-in" at home, later whenever you checked-in at other places it could/would let the bad ppl know when you're not home, opening you up to get robbed.. (I think b/c they can view what locales you checked into if you have a locale in common..?)

seems like a long shot, but

one of the things I don't like about Facebook is they made it so that other ppl can check you in w/o your knowledge/permission (they eventually added the ability to disable that)

I have all that shit disabled, my profile is blank, and I accept no applications. I share almost nothing - and I like it that way.

Genesia said:

PositivityNYC said:

I don't know if it ever happened, but I heard last yr that -- possibly -- if you ever "checked-in" at home, later whenever you checked-in at other places it could/would let the bad ppl know when you're not home, opening you up to get robbed.. (I think b/c they can view what locales you checked into if you have a locale in common..?)

seems like a long shot, but

one of the things I don't like about Facebook is they made it so that other ppl can check you in w/o your knowledge/permission (they eventually added the ability to disable that)

I have all that shit disabled, my profile is blank, and I accept no applications. I share almost nothing - and I like it that way.

my guilty pleasures..

http://apps.facebook.com/bejeweledblitz

http://apps.facebook.com/zumablitz

there's a Scrabble game, too, but it's kind of boring

I love puzzle games -- that I can play by myself (competing against friends, usually taking first place on the scoreboard); no asking ppl for corn or pigs to complete my farm or any of those other "-ville" games