#FunFriday – Social Media Brings the #Geek Out
There is one absolutely indisputable fact about social media – It brings the #GEEK out. Early adopters, for the most part, will try anything – and trust me, it’s a slippery slope. One day you are setting up a fancy RSS Reader and the next thing you know….. FARMVILLE! Nothing like missing out on actual experiences and opportunities to plant some fake crops and raise some computer chickens. Or perhaps Mafia Wars is more your style – as the video says – what else are you supposed to do while your crops are growing? But at least these don’t pretend to be useful Social Networking tools. The latest is the fascination with Foursquare, especially with the recent Blackberry app release. As a disclaimer, I am on Foursquare, and I am so geeky, I was part of the 5000 person beta release! But lets be real here, is there any true business value to this tool? I’m not buying it. Furthermore, while you are out unlocking your badge and securing your mayorship at the local donut shop, your employees just might be laughing at your twittersream of geolocational goodies.
Bosses and business professionals aren’t the only ones that should think about potential implications of broadcasting their every move around the city. I would be even less hesitant to use Foursquare if I were a girl. Yes, I know you pick your friends on Foursquare. But, after Thursday happy hour you might think it’s a great idea to share with your 6,000 best friends on Twitter that you are at so and so bar or restaurant and realistically you have no idea where that tweet ends up. Stalkers everywhere are rejoicing and high-fiving each other at the sheer joy of Foursquare!
So, for now, I’ll probably still use it. I can’t help it, it tugs at that competitive spirit in me (even if I did feel a little guilty for unlocking the “Bender” badge). But, I no longer have any illusions about the usefulness of Foursquare from a business perspective. It’s just another way for your followers to know when you are hanging out in Starbucks planting some fake plants and becoming a made-man.
Agree? Disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts, and what do you think the next application will be that becomes a 3 month trending topic on twitter?
Post Update, 1/24/10 – After thinking about it some more this weekend, I decided to delete my Foursquare account. Bye-bye Foursquare!
Farmville – HAHA! I refuse to be apart of that crap. I get so annoyed seeing it on my Facebook “So and so’s apple tree is ready to be picked!” — seriously?
I agree that social media definitely brings out the inner geek in anyone and everyone. I didn’t know Foursquare was for Blackberry though – good to know! If I ever want to let everyone know where I’m at day and night, I’ll be sure to DL it
My friends use the GoWalla and Yelp app similar to Foursquare, but I’m hesitant (as you said) to put that all over my Twitter stream. Too many crazy people out in the world to be broadcasting that stuff.
Great post, Jason! Thanks!
I agree. I feel that the application of foursquare in the workplace is very minimal. I’ve read articles recently about how schools/colleges are testing it out and I can potentially see some application there. The social connections, sharing information and game aspect is much more relevant and fun in collegiate setting. But in the workplace? I love the idea of social technology in the workplace, but Foursquare would be a stretch.
Personally, I will be surprised if Foursquare is still going strong through 2010. Yelp has recently adopted the technology of “check-in” functionality and you can see where your friends are. Its in the early stages, but from what I read this technology should be coming to multiple mobile platforms soon (hurry up android!). Other social applications like Twitter and Facebook will be adopting location features in the near future. Foursquare is more of a game, so it will still be relevant for people who are interested in that feature.
I’m with you on Foursquare. I’m so #geeky that I pinged my locations via the mobile web app on my Blackberry before the beta release this week. But 99% of the time I don’t send my check-ins out to my Twitter stream or Facebook page. Why? Because I don’t think people care and the don’t like the messages clogging up their stream. I’m also wary about the safety aspects of thousands of people knowing my whereabouts – although it’s probably pretty easy to track me down. So why I am checking in on Foursquare but not sharing it? Because I want to be Mayor every place I visit. It’s just a thing for me.
Elizabeth – I agree, excessive Farmville use is grounds for ‘de-friending’.
David – Interesting angle regarding colleges – I agree it would be more relevant and fun in that space. Good point regarding Yelp. With their robust ratings and feedback system they could be a force in this space. Same with other major players like Facebook – they are over the user adoption hurdles and can leverage pre-established, larger friend networks. IMO, the real potential may lie on the industry side, with venues being able to drive some marketing campaigns and targeted advertising based on trends established through the application. We shall see. For me, it’s just a game.
Jennifer – Thanks for stopping in! I totally hear you on stream spamming with foursquare. I am guilty and do it occasionally, but I try not to make it a habit. Of course, we are in full agreement on your last point – the Mayor aspect totally elicits a competitive response from me
Okay, I’m sorry I missed this post. That’s #1.
Here’s #2 — and I’m totally serious about all of this.
Foursquare is a corporate takeover of social media at its finest. They’re watching you. They’re tracking you. They’re fooling you into thinking that it’s fun.
It’s not enough to track your credit card data and your internet surfing data. Now they’re going to track your IP address and your social media accounts and link them to algorithms to predict your consumption habits. They’ll sell that data to merchants and consumer packaged goods companies so those companies can build products, services, and marketing campaigns meant to fatten your belly and their wallets.
You’re a pod. You’re a drone. You’re nothing but a blob with limited choices. More and more, those choices are being taken away from you through insidious marketing campaigns and the illusion that the marketplace is flooded with choice.
Social media could liberate us from the shackles of consumerism. It could create independent thought and encourage democracy. Or it can turn us into slaves.
More and more, free will is a joke.
/end paranoia because I’m off to Starbucks
I really can’t help it though. Business owner with many internal employees as well as thousands of contractors; I blog, Tweet and, yes, Foursquare. While I try to avoid religion, politics and friends’ most embarassing moments; I get personal and real and try to do onto others…
I enjoyed self-respect this morning in that I had governed myself by not publicizing attendance at Forty Deuce’s Burlesque Cafe Was in West Hollywood last night. However, sometimes I slip up and Tweet without considering the implications. For example, not thinking that anyone would care what DJDiPod listens to on a Friday night, I Blipped a certain Cyndi Lauper song at midnight, hurting someone close to me without even thinking about it. Tweet deleted but damage done.
How do we meld all of this together? Do we give up our posting personalities in order to remain neutral, resulting in vanilla content (not that I don’t love a fruity, anisic Tahitian bean) and are Mommy Bloggers so abundant because they are the really the only demographic who can say stuff without fiscal concerns, having only their children and husbands to f@^*k up along the way?
Or is the solution simply to try not to say anything stupid and if this is the case then I am totally doomed.
Laurie – Thanks for stopping in to comment. As I said above, I agree that the ‘value’ in foursquare is to “drive some marketing campaigns and targeted advertising based on trends established through the application”. What you are saying, accurately, is that in this case it is part of a larger scheme to track consumption habits while ‘fooling’ the user into focusing on the ‘game’. Tough point to disagree with, and I think you are spot on here. My advice to users – if you are not okay with this, then don’t use the application, because this is definitely where they are headed with this. You will be tracked, packaged, and sold. Period.
Diane – I struggle with the same issues. I have repeatedly said that I believe that people should be ‘real’ in their online presence. I don’t want to interact with a personal brand that isn’t reflective of your real personality. Online, as in person, there are people that will like you and people that will dislike you. I’d prefer to be myself and give people that option, than to weakly walk the line and straddle the fence while offering soft and uncontroversial content 100% of the time. If we are talking about real issues, there will be disagreements and varying positions on these issues – and the value is in the point-counterpoint debate, not in all trying to straddle issues for the sake of not alienating any of your ‘fans’. That’s my 2 cents. Thanks for commenting!
Maybe someone needs to come up with a Foursquare like application for ERP upgrades. You could check-in at each major step and unlock the badges as you go along. I mean who wouldn’t want to participate in an ERP upgrade if it were organized like a game!
When you have to backup and revisit step 532 (for the 3rd time) you can become Mayor of the Job code conversion program. After a particular grueling all nighter running the conversion programs you could revel in your Crunked badge. When you finish the upgrade you will have been awarded your Adventurer, Explorer and Superstar badge. Since most ERP upgrades take days and days and days to complete you will also gain your Bender badge. Hey, for a Bender badge, I might be persuaded to dust off my upgrade skills and do an ERP upgrade by myself.
[...] between Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter to Narcissism, ADHD, and Stalking. If you missed my post on Foursquare last week, I laid out the undeniable fact that “Stalkers everywhere are [...]
[...] be real – Social Media brings the geek out (see my post on it) But after only being on Twitter since December – I’ve tweeted 1,416, gained 662 [...]
I know I’m coming to this comment stream about a month too late, but I need to point out something.
Yes, the concept of geolocation-based social media is to sell data to businesses, but there’s another business use being overlooked here. What about the service industry places that embrace social media by rewarding the mayors of their locations and those who check in? What if the small business hang-outs around colleges banded together to organize a game of Assassins using Foursquare or some other app?
There’s something to be said for a brand that engages consumers rather than spies on them. I’d consider that a business use. Foursquare (or Yelp! or whatever app takes the lead in this segment) doesn’t have to be evil.
Mike – Yes, that would be an interesting game, and certain to turn many a foursquare users into proud owners of the “Bender Badge”
Eric – Better late than never! I do agree with your point here – there IS value in this geolocation game on the service industry side – targeted marketing, offering discounts for mayors and frequent visitors, etc. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.