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| Need to see more of these |
I originally joined because I believe Foursquare is in the sweet spot intersecting mobile, social and retail. I stopped checking in because they never delivered on it.
As a business person, I’m rooting for them. As a consumer, I no longer saw the point. There was very little in the way of offers or enhancing the retail experience.
Hopefully that’s going to change. Keep an eye on American Express. Every time I read about some new program leveraging Foursquare, it seems American Express is behind it. They have a presence on Foursquare and there has been recent press coverage like this. Industry cognoscenti know about Amex’s broader social media strategy. and Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley’s address at SXSW.
If they can go beyond checking in for the sake of checking in, I’ll get back on Foursquare in a New York minute.
What about you? Are you using Foursquare? If so, are you using it as much as when you first joined?
Do you want something everytime you use Facebook? How about Twitter? Do you get a reward every time you post to your blog?
ReplyDeleteI use Foursquare to enable situations of kismet to happen when I can say hi to friends who are in my vicinity. I use it to find cool tips and recommendations on new places to visit and on places I already frequent. I use it to remember where I've been, and with whom, when my memory fails me. I use it to fill in gaps in my mileage log when my record keeping fails me. I use it to help promote businesses I like.
The "deals" and "discounts"? I never signed up for the service expecting those. The ones I get are icing on the cake.
Ryan, thanks for commenting. You are the perfect Foursquare user because you see it, use it and contribute to it as a community, which is what any social media service wants. Personally, it was more gamification for me and I got tired of the game.
ReplyDeleteUsers like you who come for the community may not "want something" in return, but marketers may want to become a part of that community, and that's where I see Foursquare missing a big opportunity. I am rooting for them.
Just yesterday I was in the IPG MediaLab in New York and we had a good discussion about Foursquare and Amex... I really believe Amex is leading the charge.