“Checking In” on Checking In (Foursquare Infographic)
Who doesn’t love an infographic? They’re so popular lately I wouldn’t be surprised if the term replaces ‘app’ as the most ubiquitous slang word of 2011. My most recent favorite infographic comes from the team @foursquare and it does a great job of showing the service’s growth (and quirky spirit) over the last year.
Foursquare’s latest blog post title sums it up: “So we grew 3400% last year.” While this Huffington Post article points out that a mere 4% of adults use location-based social networking tools, over 380 million check-ins is nothing to scoff at. Even more impressive, is a stat gleaned from a Bulldog Reporter session that the 360PR team participated in last week – worldwide, during a randomly chosen time period of 30 seconds, there were 44 foursquare check-ins on a single platform.
So where are foursquare users? Everywhere from Wendy’s, to wine bars, to movie theaters, to space. Yes, SPACE! Do you use foursquare or other similar geolocation services like Facebook Places?
Here’s hoping geolocation services continue to feed our love for infographics over the coming months. (Check out CoolInfographics.com for some more data visualization.)
I use foursquare sparingly. It freezes up on my iPhone way too much for my liking. In fact, once it took me 4 minutes to check in somewhere. Not worth the effort! That being said, it can be fun and I do use it for business or to promote a venue that I love.
Being a digital mom, I worry about safety with my family. My husband is 100% against foursquare for safety reasons but I try not to check in to venues until I am leaving (when I am with them) or earn badges at places we go very frequently. (The YMCA) I know that actually defeats the whole purpose though.