Foursquare has more than a half million users, 1.4 million venues and more than 15.5 MILLION check-ins.... And has only been around for 1 year! Although the trend hasn't gone mainstream yet, I think it will relatively soon. There are many pros and cons to Foursquare, and it's value hasn't been defined quite yet, but I see many pluses to this start-up.
First of all, many people refuse to use Foursquare because it's deemed "unsafe" to be telling everyone where you are and what you're doing at all times. But twitter and facebook both can find your locations and tweet where you are, while Facebook status updates let people know where you are, who you're with and what you're doing... It's basically the same thing. I think people need to get past this part of it, and see Foursquare and even Gowalla for what they're worth...
Businesses and venues need to start embracing these as well, because once they start offering more discounts and deals for all customers checking in (and special deals to "Mayors", Starbucks) people will be more inclined to check it out and see what good it could do for them. Businesses really need to look into it because it could open so many doors, create brand and product loyalty to their food, products, whatever AND create an entirely new channel to interact with customers. How great would it be to walk into your favorite coffee place, where everyone knows who you are and congratulates you on being the "mayor"... Stupid, maybe... but fun enough for all, and who doesn't want to compete with others to be a mayor when all you have to do is frequent the shop?
I think it will be interesting to see how well these do in the next year and see how they transform. Look out for all of this.
Liked your article. My only question is how community identities form through social media. If group identities were more coherent than what they are now, I think it would be easier for businesses to exploit the advantages of the new media.
ReplyDeleteGreat question... I think focusing on community identities, and allowing people to feel they are a part of an active community is also super important for companies to think about. These days, advertising is still most successful through word-of-mouth, and it makes it so much easier to do so with social media. I think companies need to interact and either create communities that customers can be a part of themselves, or figure out a way to group people.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment (Sorry it took so long to get back to you! )