Being playing around with the Foursquare the social “location tagging” service and I’ve been loving it…..BUT!
Nobody seems to know what the hell they are doing with it. Other than clocking points and becoming the mayor of your most visited locations I have seen very little sign of social interaction.
The service could be great for when you visit a location you haven’t been to before. If people have added good descriptive tips about what bars and restaurants offer, what the atmosphere is like or how good the service is; you can always ensure you end up in the right place.
When your in your local area however the main benefit has to be meeting up with people to say hello (not that you can’t do this while your away from home base just your more likely to connect with somebody local). One of the problems with this is making sure locations are tagged in a way that makes this easier. A bar should be straight forward; you in the bar or not! When it comes to locations like a clothing store your not likely to want to meet up with anyone; your shopping. Do you check in to the whole street that the shops are on, “Northumberland Street”, “Princess Street” or even the whole city centre?
I don’t’ have an answer for you; so I’m asking.
Do we need some loose guidelines on what type of locations we should be tagging and checking into?
Should you be adding better quality tips for people visiting your area?
Your comments are welcome.