After presenting in class I found it interesting how many people were unaware of what foursquare was. I guess being from NYC where it originated, I was one of the few that knew about the site and its purpose. As I discussed during my presentation, I still have no idea what the benefit of gaining the points or badges are. I got to thinking, as Liz discussed today in lecture the idea of online gaming providing prizes that go towards nothing, what would happen if you got something for checking in that was of value. For example, if a teacher used foursquare to get attendance credit for a class, as proof you were there. While this would be hard to enforce, since as I said the GPS isn't quite accurate and I can check into buildings I am not actually at, it would be an interesting concept for education to begin using some of foursquare's benefits. What if you could see when a student was studying at the library? Or if there were academic badge points? Or if you got a certain number of points you'd receive something? I wonder if more people would be inclined to use the site if their benefits actually could be redeemed in a physical and literal sense.
I'm from Minnesota and hadn't heard of foursquare until this year, but it isn't surprising that it's more popular in NYC than here in the midwest. Regardless of the fact that it originated in NYC, I have a number of friends that go to school on the East Coast and are continually sharing new songs and YouTube videos with me that don't get popular here for weeks or months after.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine that goes here but is originally from New York uses foursquare and was explaining it to me once much earlier in the semester. She mentioned that the GPS isn't quite accurate and that you can essentially check in anywhere regardless of if you're actually there or not. I found that really interesting because what would be the point of even checking in then, but you raise a great point about using foursquare for educational purposes or to find out where your friends are studying assuming they really are where they say they are. The foursquare thing definitely rings a bit of "stalker" material, but it would be interesting if foursquare were able to team up with businesses and restaurants to provide discounts or reward points to their more loyal customers.