Four Square - Social Media

In Advertising today, we talked about different types of social media from Blogging to Facebook to Myspace to LinkedIn to Reddit and there is a new one called Four Square. Four Square is a Geo-Social networking site that allows you to check into places in your city. It's devised as a game and you "play" with your friends to see how many places you can discover in your city. You can check into buildings (I am currently checked into the McCombs school of business) or into restaurants. You check in through apps on your phone. On android, it's easy to check in since my phone already knows my current location. I've spent about an hour or so on the app so far and a few Pros and Cons initially pop into mind.

Pros:
- It could be potentially useful to businesses (to keep track of traffic) if Four Square becomes more popular.
- Being able to advertise to a specific market based on places they check in to.
- If it catches on, I think it has potential to be long lasting as it encourages discovery of places in your home city. Great for those "what is there to dooooo" days.

Cons:
- The downside of this website is the ability to stalk someone. It would probably be a good idea to have mindful privacy restrictions when using Four Square.
- Limited by where you are able to physically travel to. Even if you've been to a place before, it doesn't count in your Four Square until you show up with your phone.
- Needing an iPhone, Android, or web-accessible phone to participate. They allow check ins through typing in an address if you don't have a web-accessible phone but that puts integrity of the game at risk. Anyone can claim they show up at any address.

In this age of technology and social networking, I try to keep up with the times by devoting time to look into each social media. My communications professor says that in about 5 years all the social media that I know and use will become obsolete. Usage trends are constantly changing and to remain in the loop, you have to keep on top of the newest trends. I'm beginning to see friends in my age group exhibit the number one mentality in their technology knowledge. "Prsh, I don't have twitter... it's just like Facebook status updates. What's the point?" On the contrary my friend, Twitter is categorized as microblogging and it's a powerful tool in creating word-of-mouth and buzz. It's important to keep an open mind and take some time to figure out any new introductions of technology before it out as it could be the next big thing. You don't wanna be an old fart and get out done (in the area of technology and social networking) by a 13-year-old at age 25 do ya? :)