Foursquare

In today's world everyone likes to know where their friends are at all times and what they are doing there. Foursquare is a communication check-in technology that allows that to happen. With this app users can share their locations, earn badges and stats for checking in, and also give and receive tips on locations of where they have been or somewhere they plan on going in the future. Like Facebook you have "friends" that you share your actions with and you do have your own type of profile. Users can visit your profile to view the history of where you have been, tips you have given, your lists of places that people should go to, and they can see your badges and mayorships. A badge is received when a user completes a certain task like checking-in a certain amount of times in one night, checking in somewhere 3 days in a row, etc. Places where a user has checked in the most times out of anyone allows them to become the "mayor" of that destination and that is also shown in your profile. These parts of the app allow for some friendly competition and are a fun incentive for a user to keep returning to the site.

Foursquare isn't a "social networking" site to the extent of Facebook or LinkedIn but it does allow you to share where you are and what you are doing just like the other sites. It is interactive in the sense that users can leave tips for each other but communication is 1-way. Text is the most popular mode of communication on the site however users can post pictures when they check-in to a destination to visually show where they are and what they are up to. Searching for places and people can be very helpful when trying to find a somewhere to go. For example when searching for a specific movie theater you can find the address, tips from other movie-goers along with movies and their show times. It is convenient to have all of this information on one page and can be great for planning a night out. Businesses can create pages on the site to help them connect with those who check-in the most with them. They can use information from those who check-in the most to reach out to new customers. It also allows them to share promotions with the public and help spread their brand.

Users benefit from using Foursquare by keeping in touch with the social network they have created on the site through their location. It is a fairly low-maintenance app that anyone can use, not to mention that it is free. In a new age where people are always on the move, Foursquare can help by keeping track of the where, what, and when as the site updates in real time. A user can find out what one friend is doing all the way up to an entire group; you can check-in other people with you. To keep tabs on where your social network is, Foursquare is the app to use.