I’ve been reading some coverages about mobile location-sharing service Foursquare for quite some time now and was really curious about it. But unfortunately, the service was used to be restricted North American and European cities, until now.
Foursquare has just gone global, lifting its geographical limitation. So, if you’re located anywhere outside the U.S. and Europe, you can now join in the fun and start using Foursquare. In case you’re wondering how, Foursquare has various applications for iPhone, Palm Pre and Google Android. For Blackberry uses, a native app is currently under development.
As the international version is currently in test mode, Foursquare is relying on users to build its local directory. So, Foursquare as it is for non-US and European country won’t be much of good use if it will not gain grounds in the local scene.
And if you don’t know what I am talking about, here’s a brief overview of what Foursquare does.
First, you need to get the Foursquare app running on your mobile phone. Then you need to “check-in”, which in other words is just registering your whereabouts on Foursquare. Foursquare will use this information to tell your friends who are also using Foursquare so that they can recommend places to go and things to do near where you are located right now. The process goes on and on and lets you learn about the places that your friends frequently visit hereby letting you discover new places to visit as well.
In addition, you can also create badges representing the places you’ve visited, and the number of checkins you’ve made. And the more you use Foursquare, time will come when you can become the “mayor” of most visited site. You can retain that position, until someone comes along to steal it away from you.
Sounds fun? Go check out Foursquare and see whether it fits your needs.
I recently did some research and posted an article on Geo-tagging. In my opinion it is dangerous. I can see where this would lead to stalking, or other issues that could cause problems for some people. I would not want my child leaving a map to my house, or any place where she could be tracked.
In fact, I can see little benefit for it at this time. There is no doubt in my mind that benefits will be invented.
This may be the first time I’ve ever left a link to any post on my site. This time I feel it is relevant. If I am out of line, please remove it.
http://www.weblogredux.com/geo-tagging-what-you-should-know/