What is Foursquare? #

Recently, Foursquare has been popping up everywhere. Sparked by this article, it suddenly seems to have become a hot topic, and since yesterday, I've received more than 20 friend requests on my account. I've only just started using it myself, but living up to the hype, it incorporates several clever touches that feel surprisingly fresh.

At its core, it might seem like services we've seen before—using the GPS on your mobile phone or smartphone to detect where you actually are and posting on the spot. What makes it unique, however, are features like:

  • Motivational incentives using points, mayorships, and badges.
  • The ability to check in by selecting from nearby places based on your approximate location, so you don't have to broadcast your exact coordinates.
  • If a place doesn't exist yet, you can add it yourself and earn points as an incentive.
  • You can leave tips at places—for example, recommending the best dish at a ramen shop.
  • People who visit later or come across interesting tips in their friends' feeds can add them to their To-Do list to remember them later.

In this way, the more users join, the more enjoyable it becomes to browse. There are likely other appeals as well, so I plan to keep using it for a while.

By the way, while Foursquare is naturally gaining popularity, it actually hits on several trends that are bound to become standard in the future.

The Hallmarks of Next-Generation Services #

It's Social #

Please don't say, "Well, obviously." Yes, it is obvious. Going forward, almost every service will be built on the premise of being social. To spread a trending service through word of mouth, unless there are exceptional circumstances, rolling it out socially on the web offers a clear advantage—something that goes without saying for readers of this blog.

On Foursquare, being social makes it easy not only to see where your friends have checked in, but also to discover tips about those places.

Support for Facebook Connect / Twitter #

Supporting Facebook Connect or Twitter seems to already be common practice for new services in the West. Both are used across many services to skip the hassle of registration forms. With Foursquare, even after logging in with Facebook, you still had to enter quite a bit of information... The clever ones let you sign up with almost no data entry at all.

An interesting aspect of Foursquare is that even without choosing your own profile URL, linking your Twitter account makes your Twitter screen name your URL automatically. (This is proof that Twitter is increasingly recognized as a profile page abroad, but that's a topic for another time...)

Importing Friend Lists #

One reason I received so many friend requests this time is likely the feature that lets you find friends from your Twitter followers. The experience of importing a following list from Twitter, filtering and displaying already-registered users, and sending friend requests with a single click is something we'll see more and more services adopt. Of course, Foursquare allows you to do the exact same thing using your Facebook friends list.

Feeding Back Activity #

The primary reason to integrate with social services is the activity stream. By posting feedback to a Twitter timeline or Facebook news feed, you can grab the attention of connected users.

Furthermore, this feedback enables real-time event sharing. Examples like the simultaneous "Balse" chant on Twitter or the DJ set streamed on Ustream last Christmas Eve show that real-time event sharing centered around Twitter is becoming commonplace on the web.

Foursquare also lets you post activity updates whenever you check in, so discovering via Twitter that a friend happens to be in the same place and meeting up will soon become a common occurrence.

Support for iPhone / Android #

More and more web services are releasing dedicated apps for iPhone and Android alongside their sites. Rather than simply claiming "it runs on smartphones," any service that leverages "things you can only do in that specific location" will inevitably push in this direction.

Foursquare is, of course, a quintessential example, offering dedicated apps for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre.

What About Japan? #

Looking at Japan, how feasible would it be to build something similar here? Let's examine each point:

  • Being Social:
    Well, this is a given.
  • Support for Facebook Connect / Twitter:
    While services supporting Twitter are increasing, Facebook still has relatively few users in Japan, so adoption hasn't been very proactive. This brings to mind initiatives like mixi Connect or GREE Connect, but since neither has been released to the public yet, we'll have to see what the future holds.
  • Feeding Back into Activity Streams:
    This goes hand-in-hand with Connect technologies, but building out the receiving activity streams is equally critical. In domestic Japanese services, the concept of a timeline (or stream) hasn't fully taken root yet—GREE's "Hitokoto" feature was only recently rolled out. As for mixi, the activity stream for mixi Apps isn't being utilized to its full potential either, so just like with Connect tech, there's hope for improvement going forward.
  • iPhone / Android Support:
    Smartphone support is something that could easily be implemented right now, even in the domestic market.

Analyzing it this way, it's clear that while domestic services hesitate, the stage is set for a new social service that harnesses Twitter's virality to emerge. Honestly, it's a prime opportunity!

Summary #

Using Foursquare as an example, I've shared a glimpse of what the near-future social web looks like. If you're not sure what makes it so impressive, it's interesting to consider the reverse: imagine a service that isn't social, can't import friend lists, and can't push activity back to streams... If you picture that, you'll probably recall a few similar services from the past that failed.

For other services featuring these characteristics, be sure to check out the news site Huffington Post and the local discovery guide CitySearch.

Also, it was nearly a year ago, but the presentation on the Social Web I gave at the opening of the first SocialWeb study group is still quite relevant. Please feel free to take another look at that as well.