I can’t wait until the next time I travel or decide to let mom know where I am. Even if she reads about this awesome service called hashtagmom.com here first, the first call will undoubtedly result in lots of giggles and sighs of relief, followed by confusion and reasoning, followed by a call to my Grammy to relay the crazy phone call she just received. Let’s just say: #predictable.
If any of you readers sign up too, please share how it goes!
Free things in your NYC neighborhood for Foursquare users! Definitely will use this, because it’d be silly not to.
Why does @foursquare allow so many pocalypses?! It’s weird. I don’t even have a good argument. It’s just…weird.
Foursquare: Check-in distribution by day in the last month.
Conclusions: bored more often earlier in week. Or, more coffee breaks resulting from easing back into the work week. Or, boring on weekends*.
*this post was written on a Saturday night at 9pm.
When I started using foursquare one month ago, I was curious, cynical, and feeling left out of a new cool thing. Here’s what happened:
At the beginning of my month, I made a prediction:
“I will have major qualms, but remain a casual user after the month because I’ll be so close to some crazy badge or something and want to reach that benchmark, and then another…”
Damn I’m good. It’s true. I can’t quit it, but I also don’t care so much about checking in everywhere anymore. I do want one of those cool random badges like Photogenic or Socialite or Trainspotter, whatever that is. I would secretly be thrilled to be mayor of one of the places that I often grab a bagel before work. I would be irritated if another coworker were to oust me as mayor of our office.
You got me, foursquare. With these stats, I’m not going anywhere.
Forgot to check in a lot of places…but maybe that’s fine? Should you check in where you do volunteer work, like the work is just part of a game? I thought volunteer work is selfless? Would it make me a bad person?
No really, I just forgot. But I didn’t check in multiple times a day at the office, or at the place where I picked up a bagel but didn’t stay, or at the pretty concourse where I ate my lunch because it’s not really an institution…how far is this going to go?! Do people need to say that they’re the mayor of everything that could have a name?! the 2 train? the LIRR concourse? A square of sidewalk? I don’t quite get it.
The competition’s heating up. I know foursquare’s not solely a competition, but there was little joy in my first two mayorships, my office and Tax Court, simply because there was no competition. Foursquare is in a very specific market (I’d be curious to see those stats, but I’m guessing ages 15-35 smartphone owners in urban areas who like feeling “with it”), and my workplace and most of my friends are not that market. But, one of my coworkers wasn’t happy with me being a mayor of either place, so she joined, and now we have this silly motivation to not let the other have mayorship in our humble work setting. It’s absurd, but also easy enough to check in, so we do.
I’m too nosy about where my friends are when really, I don’t care or would otherwise know. My foursquare friends are either people who I generally know where they are anyway (either through real-life conversations, or twitter, or text, or some other means), or people who I follow in hopes that I learn about somewhere new and interesting (nothing yet). I refresh my friend list without thinking almost as often as I check twitter, but just because it’s something to do. I don’t really care, but I do it anyway. It’s like brushing my teeth, but less healthy and unexplainable to people who aren’t on foursquare.
Lingering Questions: Why is the Shout feature in existence? What’s the line of when to check in and when not to, and when to share it and when not to? Who is the mayor of the indian restaurant I go to for lunch all the time, because there’s never anyone under 50 there? How come I feel like a less-than-productive girlscout every time I get a badge (count = 5)?
Something funny: At the foursquare party last night, I almost forgot to check in, and then had issues finding the venue. They really should have kicked me out.
On a final note, a friend interviewed me for a paper about foursquare. My one week perspective (likely better articulated orally) is overall mixed, but full of continued intrigue. I told her that. If you have insight on the use of foursquare in your life, tell her.
Beginning tomorrow, i will begin a one month foursquare adventure. If I like it, maybe I’ll stay; if not, I’ll quit and never do it again.
Motivation: I made fun of Twitter for being just plain silly, said I’d try it if ever I had a weird urge to tweet twice in one day, had that urge and tried it, love it and haven’t looked back. Parallel here – I wanted to check in at Tompkins Square Park today because it was so beautiful out and I have an evil desire to be the mayor, and wanted to check in at Lil Frankies because it’s so darn good and Pat did it. So, now I joined, and will give it a shot starting tomorrow.
Major Questions: How can I ever be a competitor for a mayor or a badge or points by getting in so late in the game? Will I have evidence of my here-there-everywhere life? Will I remember to check in? Will I attempt to cheat and check in falsely or after the fact? Am I going to get annoyed by it? Will I actually learn about new places on it? Will I end up being “one of those people” who connects my checkins with either facebook or twitter or (worse!) both?
Redeeming Qualities: Everybody’s doing it. Potential to learn about new places. Potential to be a mayor. Ability to know even more about the lives of people I already know too much about via internet sources.
Prediction: I will have major qualms, but remain a casual user after the month because I’ll be so close to some crazy badge or something and want to reach that benchmark, and then another…
Please give me tips if there are any to be had, and either way, enjoy watching me self-destruct this month during this crazy venture.
