A rush of Foursquare check-ins, a swarm of disappointment
This post was originally published on my previous domain, jessekohl.com, on May 16, 2014. It was recovered from the Wayback Machine. This may or may not have been edited slightly by AI.
I’ve been a little fascinated with what’s happening to Foursquare lately. Of course, most of my friends who are familiar with it are shaking their heads when I share updates. I can just hear one former marketing colleague saying something like “Great job, Jess. Let’s update everyone on a few other trends of years past.” But it’s fascinating to watch as the social media service that made the “check-in” such a thing way back then now tries to reinvent itself by freezing mayorships, launching other apps that seem like clones of other services, and removing or shifting what it means to “check-in” altogether.
Un. In. Stall.
I was a latecomer to Foursquare. I just didn’t care to share my location with the world at any given time. Deals or no deals. I watched as the company won a Webby Award in 2010 and earned nominations for several other awards that year. And finally, my first check-in on Foursquare was at a Tim Hortons on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 7:35 pm. In the nine days that followed, I checked in at various locations around Toronto and Southern Ontario. It was fun for a bit. Then two weeks passed with no check-ins. I opened the app twice in November 2010, and the second of those check-ins would be the last location I’d cared to share for about four years.
Then something happened. I started dating a woman who used Foursquare. Something else happened. I bought a new smartphone, and I was looking for excuses to open it up and play with it everywhere. So I picked Foursquare up again, started playing with it, and watched my numbers climb up the leaderboard.
I earned a few badges, and just when I thought I might actually make mayor, the freeze before the swarm happened.
No big deal. Good luck with Swarm. But here’s the thing – I actually enjoyed competing against strangers for the short time I got back into Foursquare. I enjoy seeing content from strangers who are friends on Twitter. I don’t think I really need an app to show me what Swarm’s offering. The few good friends I have, I love ’em to death, but sometimes you want to get out and explore without those people knowing where you are.
I hope it takes off and proves some kind of valuable experience. Maybe I’ll be a late adopter of Swarm. As for Foursquare and what it will become, not sure I’ll need another Yelp. Not sure I ever needed Yelp, when I have Google Maps, come to think of it. One day, maybe I’ll wake up and try it, maybe even love it.
But not today.
Update: My girlfriend made me do it. But I’m not too impressed yet.