Social media has been one of the biggest trends in the past five years and rightfully so as it has connected people worldwide. But many complain on how the internet and social media with its intended purpose of connecting people is actually making people less social.

Foursquare is a relatively new social media application that wants to change this perception by helping you meet with your friends and other interesting folks in your local community. By being a location-based social application it allows you to track location of you and your friends and at the same time earn points whenever you are adventuresome and explore more parts of the city.

In translation, this application encourages you to go out more often and be more social.  There are many similar apps such as Brightkite, Google Latitude, and Loopt but none of them make stalking your friends this much fun.

There has been lots of talk about Foursquare being the next Twitter and I believe the talk should be about Foursquare being Foursquare. Yes, it has some similarities such as updating your status on where you are and what you are doing but the true spark of this application is the game that you become part of when you are using Foursquare.

Here is the breakdown of the game as recently posted by Mashable:

The Game: To those of you not playing, it may sound like a joke, but don’t knock it till you try it. You earn points for every check-in — unless of course you check-in at the same locale all the time. You’re rewarded with more points for being adventuresome (exploring different parts of the city), for hitting up multiple spots in one night, and eventually for the tips other people try and the to-dos you complete.

Mayorship is key. Should you check-in at the same location a few times, you’ll become the mayor of that spot, and though it sounds silly in theory, in practice it’s incredibly sticky. Being mayor is pretty nifty, and you might find yourself trying to actively maintain your power, which is good for your game stats, good for the business, and great for creating competition amongst friends.

Another cool feature is that users are able to create “Top 12 Lists” of their favourite spots in the city. We all have our top spots and why not share it with our friends. This makes word-of-mouth marketing that much easier.

Now what do you think of this app? Personally, I think it totally ROCKS! Except for one thing – it is only available in 21 cities and Toronto is not one of them. Toronto being one of the social media capitals of the world and boasting a large number of restaurants, bar, and coffee shops, this app would be a total hit here!

Marketing Potential: Many people will ask right away – “How can you promote your business on Foursquare?” Firstly, this app is great for restaurants, bars, coffee shops, gyms and other local merchants. A simple answer to the question- reward Foursquare users for checking in your establishment and they will reward your business.

Businesses that use social media will be able to gain regulars and have people competing to become the mayor of the establishment (if you offer a nice incentive to becoming one that is – Free Drinks anyone)

Would you use Foursquare or is it a total waste of time?

Image Credits: Amit Gupta, @MSG, Foursquare

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Thanks for visiting and keep in touch ~ Alex.