Stefanie Hahn

By Stefanie Hahn

The two major players in the location-based check-in game are currently Foursquare and, simply because of the size of the network, Facebook.  You are probably already a member of Facebook, which is really how Facebook will beat Foursquare in the end.  Maybe.

Let’s start with the basics … If you haven’t heard about Foursquare yet, don’t worry. There are still plenty of people not sure what it is or how it works. In a nutshell, Foursquare is one of a few mobile networking sites that allow you to broadcast you location in the world and interact with others who are nearby. It was designed as a game, but has become more about social media than it is about play. Here is a cute video from the Foursquare folks describing the service in their own words.

I resisted Foursquare for quite a while – mainly because I didn’t really feel the world needed to know where I was at every moment and also because I didn’t really see the value in playing along. Then in February there was a whole debate about the “please rob me” sites popping up that told people when you were somewhere else – that was a bit creepy too. In the end, however, I signed up because I recognize when something cool is coming along. Continue reading »