Foursquare City Guide: Difference between revisions
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{{main|List of Foursquare Badges}} |
{{main|List of Foursquare Badges}} |
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Badges are earned by checking into various venues. Some cities have city-specific badges that can only be earned in a specific city. Foursquare has, however, changed the way they handle badges, and now when a user gains a badge, he or she has the same badges across all cities. |
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Badges can be either system-wide, or city-centric. |
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== Superuser Status == |
== Superuser Status == |
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Revision as of 17:02, 27 January 2010
| File:Foursquare Logo Boy.png | |
| Genre | Social Networking |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Dodgeball |
| Founded | March 2009 |
| Founder | Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai |
Key people | Dennis Crowley, Naveen Selvadurai, Harry Heymann, Tristan Walker |
Number of employees | 7 |
| Website | http://foursquare.com |
Foursquare is a location-based social networking website, software for mobile devices, and game. Users "check-in" at venues using text messaging or a device specific application[1]. They are then awarded points and sometimes "badges." The service was created by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai; Crowley had previously founded the similar project Dodgeball, which Google bought and shelved in 2009. The website has about 170,000 members[2].
Overview
Foursquare allows registered users to connect with friends and update their location. Points are awarded on weekends and non-business hours for "checking in" at venues. Users can choose to have their Twitter and/or their Facebook accounts updated when they check in. In version 1.3 of their iPhone application, Foursquare enabled push-notification of friend updates, which they call "Pings." Users can earn badges by checking in at locations with certain tags or for check-in frequency[3]. The company has stated that users will be able to add their own custom badges to the site in the future. If a user has checked-in to a venue more than anyone else, on separate days, and they have a profile photo, they will be crowned "Mayor" of that venue, until someone else earns the title.[4] Users can create a "To Do" list for their private use and add "Tips" to venues that other users can read.[5]
Foursquare was previously available in only 100 worldwide metro areas[6], including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas / Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Helsinki, Houston, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis / St. Paul, New York City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Washington, D.C.,Seoul and Bombay in India. In January 2010, Foursquare changed their location model to allow check-ins from any location worldwide. [7] The service has 100,000 users internationally.[8]
Foursquare currently has an iPhone, Android, and Palm webOS application and is working on applications for BlackBerry and the Windows Mobile[9]. Both the Blackberry and webOS clients are currently in beta testing.
Badges
Badges are earned by checking into various venues. Some cities have city-specific badges that can only be earned in a specific city. Foursquare has, however, changed the way they handle badges, and now when a user gains a badge, he or she has the same badges across all cities.
Superuser Status
The service provides three levels of "Superuser status" (which is not to be confused with the Superuser badge). Superuser status is conferred on users who check in frequently or enter new venue information into Foursquare.
- Superuser level 1 can edit venue info (address, cross street, Twitter names), mark places as "closed", and let Foursquare know about duplicate venues.
- Superuser level 2 can edit venues and merge duplicate venue listings.
- Superuser level 3 adds the ability to create venue aliases and delete fake/spam listings.
Related Applications
With the Foursquare API there are now applications and websites that augment the official website. A few that have recently been built:
| Application | Developers | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SocialGreat | Bill Piel, Jon Steinberg, Sam Lessin | Tracking venue trends and popularity based on foursquare checkins |
| Layar | Johannes la Poutré and Johan Schaap | Layar is an augmented reality browser that can overlay foursquare data on top of a display of the physical world |
| foursquare local specials | Arthur Klepchukov | A Yahoo Pipe that basically monitors the foursquare site for new local venues with foursquare specials |
| Where Do You Go | Steven Lehrburger | Generates a visual heat map of checkins for a specific user |
See also
References
- ^ Washington Post: "SXSW: Foursquare Scores Despite Its Flaws"
- ^ Tweet from @TristinWalker of Foursquare December 20, 2009
- ^ "Foursqure Badges Help Page"
- ^ Foursquare Help Page
- ^ New York Times - Bits Blog: "Foursquare Seeks to Turn Nightlife Into a Game"
- ^ "Foursquare Goes Global With Launch in 50 New Cities"
- ^ "Foursquare. Everywhere."
- ^ [http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sun-foursquare-1129nov29,0,2940136.story" Foursquare may bounce social media into money-making mode"
- ^ "Foursquare Twitter Page"
External links
- Foursquare
- FoursquareX - Third party OS X Desktop Client for Foursquare