

Why I quit playing Foursquare - adamhowell
http://www.creative360.com/blog/2009/09/why-i-quit-playing-foursquare/

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mr_luc
I thought this was about the schoolyard game foursquare.

I am ashamed to admit this, but I played that all the way through 8th grade.

...

Now that I know what Foursquare is, I have to say, foursquare seems
preferable.

~~~
MicahWedemeyer
Don't be ashamed. It's an awesome game.

Who knows, maybe there will be adult intramural leagues some day, like there
are with kickball and dodgeball.

~~~
PieSquared
Not only is it an awesome game, it can be a true art. I have seen four-square
players who turned the game into a noncompetetive sport, similar to
hackeysack, which allowed them to pull tricks you'd never imagine.

Ever seen someone do a flip after deflecting a four-square ball, land in a
push up position, and then deflect it again with their head? I'm telling you,
these guys were amazing.

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christefano
Here's the reply that I tried posting but didn't see show up. It may have gone
into moderation for approval.

\--

Bravo. I went through this, too, when I got a surprise message from Foursquare
saying, "You've been unseated as the mayor of such-and-such!" Really, who
cares? I haven't checked in at all since I realized that Foursquare makes it
into a competition.

Don't even get me started on Parallel Kingdom. I nearly lost a friend to that
game.

What I liked about Dodgeball was that it gave me a kind of third eye when
going to a venue I hadn't been to before. I was able to go to the Dodgeball
website with my phone, see the photos of people who had checked in at that
particular venue and approach them since they seemed to know more about the
venue than I did and they practically invited these kinds of interactions by
being users of Dogdeball.

That was in 2000, I think, and I used it until Google bought the site. They
were kind enough to give everyone 2 weeks to delete their accounts before
transferring everything to Google's servers. I still have privacy concerns
with these kinds of sites, but now I have no problem broadcasting my location
if I'm at a public event that's been announced somewhere else already.

Would you continue using Foursquare if it didn't have competitive and
teritorial gameplay?

------
skolor
Can anyone explain what exactly Foursquare is? From what I can gather it is
some sort of social-networking mixed with Geocaching, but I seem to be missing
something about it.

~~~
mtrichardson
Basically: You go to a spot (eg, restaurant, bar, bookstore) and check in
there. It broadcasts your location to your friends. The difference here is
that the vast, vast, vast majority of this is all done on the iPhone and your
friends get a push notification when you check in.

For me, Foursquare is a way to invite others - it's great to see friends
checking in somewhere, ping them and join up with them (or vice-versa). Good
nights out. The problems with it (personally) arise when people check in..
everywhere. I don't care if you're at work or at home - checking in carries
with it an implicit invitation.

It definitely works best in large urban areas with lots of activities (I use
it in Portland, OR).

------
ellyagg
I feel the urge to correct an underlying misapprehension running through this
post. Being competitive is not anti-social. It may not be for you. It may not
be for me. But competitive behavior is a staple of human (and other animal)
social behavior. Mafiosos bust balls. Jocks kid and taunt each other. Michael
Jordan was both extremely competitive and extremely friendly and social.
Competitiveness and social-ness aren't antagonists for all people, just some
of us.

------
spencerfry
I was a very early user and the initial draw for me was gathering badges as
quickly as I could. I gathered them all so badges stopped driving me toward
checking in. Then there was mayorship. But, most importantly, it was seeing
when/where my friends were checking in. And as long as my friends keep
checking in and I keep checking in, why would I quit "playing" Foursquare? The
playing bit, in my opinion, is simply the hook.

And let's not forget tips.

------
lawrence
The coupons / deals for mayors offer a more practical reason to use
Foursquare. Judging from Foursquare's funding announcement, more resources
will be given to that aspect now.

As an entrepreneur, I see this aspect as very Tom Sawyeresque - I love the
idea of getting third parties to pay your users to use your service.

------
sh1mmer
This basically explains why I am apathetic about foursquare.

I used to do a lot of stuff with the Fire-eagle team (who still have a really
solid geo platform). However the real barrier to this stuff being really
useful is the frequency and granularity of updates.

The thing that geo-location brings, the thing that we really want is
serendipity. It massively increases the chance of meeting a friend while out
because your devices know you are a block (or a foot) away even if you don't.
This means that our ability to encounter serendipity is exponentially
increased because it's no longer limited by our senses or memories. Dodgeball
would introduce friends of friends, for example.

The problem remains, until geo-location is automatic and effortless the cost
and frequency of updates belies the effort.

------
slpsys
Ok. Normally, the articles on HN with similar titles about quitting this or
that are an exposition having to do with some technical or moral appraisal of
the service; this is just a complaint that he no longer finds himself needing
or wanting what the service provides. And that's perfectly fine.

