CNN published an article about the next big social media thing…Foursquare. Claiming to be a “highly addictive” application, Foursquare rivals competitors like Loopt, but offers a “virtual game in which participants earn badges for checking in at various locations.” But why, with so many social media applications out there do people predict this will be the next big thing? First, it’s developers have already gained success making and selling apps to Google, and founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey has invested, which is sure to strengthen a partnership rather than competition. By predicting this to be the next big thing gets Foursquare’s story in front of people, but what do you think? With 18 million Twitter users proposed by the end of this year, are people ready for yet another app?
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17 Comments, Comment or Ping
Amanda Vashro
To answer your hypothetical question, I do think that people are very ready for another app. Social media is everywhere and people are just eating it up! Even non-tech products and companies are using social media to leverage their service or product. I am surprised it has taken this long for a new application to develop, or rather evolve into mainstream.
Nov 30th, 2009
Jon Hickey
While Foursquare is getting a lot of hype, I’m not sure about its long-term viability. I’ve checked out the application, and it seems to me like you have to be actively involved in using and updating it to gain any value from it. Generally, in social media we witness an 80-20 rule, where 80% of the content is created by 20% of the users. In this case, 100% of users have to be contributing content in order for them to gain value. Because of this, I’m not sure this model will be sustainable a year or two down the road.
I do admit, however, that it is a pretty cool site.
Dec 1st, 2009
Eric Burgess
I’m skeptical. I know “GEO” sites are really hot right now, but CNN’s claim that it’s the next big social media thing may be exaggerated. Here’s why…
Facebook. There’s an interesting article by Jason Kincaid (who I follow on twitter) titled: Watch Out Foursquare, Facebook is Poised To Dominate Geo. In it he deconstructs Foursquare’s platform. And, he points out that Foursquare has some great elements to it like friend finder that “appeals to some fundamental human desire to hang out with people you enjoy spending time with.”
However, rumors are flying around that Privacy Controls in Facebook will get a complete overhaul. It’s suggested that FB users will be able to start broadcasting their geo location soon, thus making the FB platform now more like Foursquare. Example: your friends could keep tabs on your whereabouts just like Foursquare.
We’ll see. GEO stuff is certainly hot right now.
Dec 1st, 2009
Kwame Harlin
I certainly don’t buy Foursquare being the next big thing more like the next Friendster. Seems like alot of hype with no sustainable model for success (currently).
The geo-tagging craze is a trend that will soon past unless business jump on and use it as a promotional tool such as become the mayor of Mcdonald’s and get a free happy meal. Otherwise it seems like a endless game that takes more time to play than simply updating your facebook status telling people where you are.
Dec 3rd, 2009
Rose Egge
Certainly there is going to be some “next big thing” this year, as Twitter becomes more and more commonly used, and why not foursquare?
As a new user, I am impressed with the social aspects of the app and appreciate its focus on the local.
The technologies with a playful challenge imbedded in their function are always popular. With Myspace and Facebook it was a challenge to get friends. Foursquare will challenge you with a hyper-local component, to own your town.
The value of technologies lies in innovation among users. With Twitter lies in those who use it to say more than “I’m eating a ham sandwich.” In the case of foursquare, businesses are already being invited to use the technology to award users with specials and events. This gives the app added value for users too.
But if nothing else, what could keep Foursquare alive is their partnership with Twitter. Now the microblogging technology that asked “What are you doing” is accompanied by the question “and where?” Plus, it makes finding friends much easier.
But hey, whatever happens, I’m interested in finding out.
Dec 5th, 2009
shane
I know I can’t speak to the millions of first adopters and folks who just like being super connected – but there comes a point for me where I just can’t keep up with all the social tools out there. I wonder if the mass appeal of Facebook is that the platform is rigid enough to make it predictable and easy (mostly) to use, but flexible enough to incorporate new features (Farmville! I hate Farmville!) like the live newsfeed that rivals twitter.
Having one place to be social online – with Facebook connect, integration with twitter, photo sharing, future geo applications – seems to have a widespread appeal. Maybe Facebook doesn’t do it the best, but it does do it good enough, which as all of us who love YouTube know, is fine most of the time.
The idea of a one-stop shop, yahoo tries, iGoogle tries, the new MSN will try, is very appealing especially with the rise of mobile access. On a small 3.5 inch screen, it’s nice to be able to, at a glance, glean the social updates we all seem to crave without having to jump from site to site, app to app.
It seems that ideas like Foursquare and other sites have to expand their scope or just be head and shoulders better than their competitors.
Dec 6th, 2009
Danielle Gatsos
Personally I am getting concerned about the personal transparency that these types of sites are starting to influence, especially among youth. It seems that in recent times young people are feeling the need to document every experience, because if they don’t have photos, comments, or video about that experience to share online, then it is considered irrelevant. What happened to the times when we went out and actually enjoyed ourselves without keeping in mind whether or not that event would be online within the next few days?
I am concerned that we are becoming so engaged with our online profiles and appearances we’re neglecting to fully enjoy our real-life experiences, and that we may be influencing too much exposure in times where there are unfortunately online predators and stalkers (anyone watch Dateline with Chris Hansen?).
This summer I went to a Mariners game, my mom had told my sister about it the next day and my sister said “I know, I already saw pictures on Facebook.” Those pictures weren’t mine.
Foursquare seems like a practical application. With the success of Twitter and Facebook it is clear that we have become social media addicts. But to what point do we draw the line and keep some aspects of our personal lives actually personal (such as our changing locations)?
I am admittedly already tweeting daily to keep up my profiles and checking my Facebook on a regular basis, if I were to join another platform basically all of my free time outside of work would be applied to social media. While I respect the nature of social media and the impact it can have, I also realize that in order to be a well-rounded individual there have to be times where I need to keep my fingers off the keypad. Documenting every event, to me, seems not only tedious, but dangerous, and that is the type of behavior that these sites are starting to influence in today’s youth.
I don’t want Foursquare to fail, but I do hope that at some point there will be some sort of education applied to proper social media use so our youth realize the dangers of digital exposure, as well and the importance of keeping real-life experiences in real-life.
Dec 6th, 2009
Li Li
“Are people ready for yet another app?” This is an interesting question.
From E-mail, to IM, to Facebook, to Twitter, the pace of this movement is faster and faster. To see whether a app will become groundswell, it has to identify that whether it changes the way how people communicate.
If we say, before twitter, people connect to each other from bonding relationship, then we can say that, after twitter, people bridging to each other. We can follow strangers, or be followed by strangers. This totally change our way to communication. As it adapt to iphone, people can get access to internet anywhere at anytime.
So， maybe my question here is that how Foursquare change the way we connect to each other, instead of the time issue.
Dec 6th, 2009
Katherine Turner
Danielle brings an interesting and valid point to the discussion- is this safe? Safety is the main concern of most parents and teachers of digital natives. If anyone thought that disclosing a home address on Facebook was pushing the limits this is too much, particularly for youth. Foursquare enables anyone to follow you and constantly keep track of your whereabouts. It seems like an invitation for online harassment to turn into physical harm.
The incentives are nice: get a free beer for being the “Mayor.” But as our online and offline selves are becoming increasingly blurred, do our offline actions become consequences of what will improve our online status?
That being said, whether it’s foursquare or not, there will always be the “next best thing” in social media. People are ready and undoubtedly willing to let online applications permeate their “offline” lives.
Dec 6th, 2009
MFranco
I actually do not view Foursquare so much as an application but more as a sub-culture. It has made a lot of noise as of late, but I do not think it will continue to be the next biggest social application if they just keep things as they are. I do think it is around to stay and it will continue to have a passionate following. I just do not think it is the ‘next big social media thing.’ It is in its boom phase now and will continue with its loyal following just as so many apps have before it.
Part of me hopes that I am wrong, because Foursquare actually encourages ‘offline’ social lives. That is kind of nice to hear since I have been afraid of our culture being too ‘wired’ or approaching the ‘always online’ status.
Dec 7th, 2009
*cat
I don’t think Foursquare is going to take off as CNN predicts. I think with the press coverage it’s getting now, it will garner new eyeballs and create short-term (or one-time) action for those that want to “see what all the fuss is about” but won’t be able to sustain the interest of the masses for too long. Referring back to some comments from from Hanson’s post –http://flipthemedia.com/index.php/2009/11/an-ode-to-contemplation/ — being “off the grid” and detaching from the online world is luxury that some are embracing — a mentality that is the polar opposite of what Foursquare is looking to market. But this is just my own personal opinion.
Dec 7th, 2009
Madeline Moy
I recently finished reading Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, and he describes the social networking service, dodgeball, to illustrate the power of Small World networks. Shirky says, “…tools that rely on friend-of-a-friend networking work better when they augment human social choices rather than trying to replace them.” I think this partly explains the explosion in social media. Using social tools gives us more choice.
What’s dodgeball got to do with Foursquare? One of the founders of dodgeball is also behind Foursquare.
I’ve heard a lot of rumblings about Foursquare, but I never was that interested in checking it out until I read a Mashable article about the service by Jennifer Van Grove. I find the tips and to-dos feature most interesting. Van Grove writes, “As a user, you can add tips to locales to tell your friends and the general public about the key things they need to know about a venue. Say for example the local pizza place has a discount every Tuesday night, you’d add that info into Foursquare, and then anyone nearby can see the tip and save it as a to-do to their personal check list.”
I am that friend of yours who loves to give tips and advice on everything from what bar has the best happy hour to where to find the best price on a yoga mat. Foursquare was made for me! And I know I’m not alone.
I used to think Twitter was dumb, and then three months ago, I started using it and now I think it’s one of the most useful social networking tools out there. As Mashable’s Van Grove says, “Foursquare is like Twitter before it was Twitter.”
Dec 7th, 2009
James Taylor
I was fully prepared to write that I did not believe foursquare would be the next big thing. Plainly, because facebook already has everything in place to give what foursquare can and the existing audience participation to make it a reality. However, Madeline’s point about twitter made me think. I thought twitter was pointless up until recently. I felt it was basically the facebook newsfeed. It’s not. The principles of the the facebook newsfeed and twitter posts are almost identical, but the appication and audience is different. Twitter is a place to find out about things from trusted sources/experts you don’t know, facebook is the place to find out about what your stupid friends had for lunch. Luckily for foursquare, it’s not just a place to see where your stupid friends are eating luch RIGHT NOW, it’s a place to track geographically what’s going on around you. In my opinion foursquare must be careful not to too broadly pitch itself as the “see where your friends are right now!” app, it must focus on the geography of desire. What do you want, and how can you find it near you right now.
Dec 8th, 2009
Eric Burgess
I just came back to peep the more recent comments on this post. @Danielle Gatsos – I’m blown away at your articulation and interpretation. You took the words right out of my mouth particularly with this part:
“What happened to the times when we went out and actually enjoyed ourselves without keeping in mind whether or not that event would be online within the next few days?”
Why do so many of us feel we need to announce and proclaim our every move in the real world, online? Are we by nature self absorbed? Addicted to technology? Or, do we simply view the internet as a storytelling gateway for our lives?
By the way, here’s the link to the article I mentioned in my previous comment: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/28/facebook-foursquare/
Dec 8th, 2009
Nicole Maroutsos
I certainly think there is an audience for an application like this, however I have a hard time believing it will really go mainstream. I don’t think it’s a question of whether people are ready for “the next big thing” as much as it’s a privacy issue. I can see Four Square blowing up with the digital natives who are comfortable with the idea of putting themselves out there; however I can’t see it growing among older generations. When I think of all the people I know who aren’t on Facebook yet, it’s because they feel uncomfortable about the lack of privacy. Four Square takes it to a whole new level. I don’t care for everyone to know where I am…and I certainly don’t care where everyone else is. I have a few friends with the Loopt app on Facebook and I think nothing is more annoying than the constant geo updates…
Dec 8th, 2009
Rae Macker
In his article “Engage Gen Y Online with Social Interactivity,” Bruce Temkin lays out principles of design for attracting Generation Y to a website. One of his recommendations is to incorporate elements of game design – challenges, rewards, competition, etc. Foursquare definitely has that going on, so it could take off with younger generations who are digital natives that grew up with video games, Facebook, etc.
I’m in the camp that it won’t really take off, though. As others have said, it doesn’t seem to do anything that Facebook/Twitter/etc. already do, and on top of that, there are concerns about privacy and safety. Personally, I’m heavily into social media applications, but not to the extent that I feel the need for everyone to know where I am at all times. There’s too much potential for disaster there.
Dec 9th, 2009
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