- Benefits of foursquare: Fun. Badges, points – it’s a game! Do you like Monopoly? Same concept. Coupons. Deals as being the “Mayor” of places, or simply by checking in. Recently GAP offered 25% off any purchase by anyone who checked in. Pizza Hut & Starbucks are also in on the foursquare craze.

- I check in on twitter/facebook. Note – NOT every check in. I’m selective with 4sq friends, twitter, and/or facebook. No one cares if I go to the grocery store everyday. So you are correct that some do “overshare” (Hey there’s even a badge for that).

- My 78 year old grandmother is on Facebook. She’s said that she “worries about me less” when she sees my check ins. (She’s Italian and chronic worrier especially since I travel the world on a whim). My 45+ year old mother sends me messages if she doesn’t see me check into foursquare (She’s on it sparingly, herself), and she checks twitter first. Plenty of people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are using foursquare. It’s not just a “Gen Y” thing.

- Through twitter posts I have come to find hidden gems in my area through foursquare friends checking in. I go to more places and have more conversations with 4sq friends about locations and their characteristics and history through their twitter posts. There is currently no way to discuss with your 4sq friends through the 4sq app. Also, I have a gigantic network, and I want to discuss these things with them.

You have every right to do what you want when it comes to location based services. I would never care if you hated foursquare and never used it (in fact, you’d be like 75% of my IRL friends). However – it seems as though you yourself have never actually used the app. I say this to friends that have never read the Harry Potter books and hate on it “If you haven’t read it (used it) then how can you possibly hate it?” That’s a lesson I was taught as a young child and it makes me sad when people grow up and don’t live that way.

Why hate on something you have never used? Why hate on something people clearly find fun and useful? Why hate on something that could potentially open your eyes to your surroundings? The way people get old is not by the physical act of aging, it’s when they stop being curious. If one simple tweet about my location is enough for you to close the door on a whole relationship, maybe all of these issues really lie with you. Allowed people to follow you without following them back is one thing – actively choosing to ignore them is a very one sided way to go through life. (Funny how a discussion foursquare turns out to be about life, but hey – it’s all interconnected).

A reader,

Here’s a recommendation to read “A few reasons to be excited for social media in 2010,” by Doug Hamlin from the Digital Communications team at Weber Shandwick’s blog. The first item is about geo-location services, including Foursquare:

http://www.socialstudiesblog.com/2010/01/few-reasons-to-be-excited-for-social.html

(Of course what I liked best about the article was a second source confirming that @boresquare: “[lets] users choose when and with whom to share their locations”; ergo, “a reasonable alternative exists.”

Foursquare is an iPhone application that allows users to check in to locations they are visiting (bars, restaurants, etc), and share their location over Twitter. Users can also add recommendations on items they like at these venues.