Of all the so-called “social media” platforms, the one I’ve struggled most with is Foursquare. Once the novelty of checking into a location and announcing this fact to the world wears off, I found the lack of quality, useful information that users are tagging to sites to be a bit disappointing.
I might have to rethink, based on this interview, in which the Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley outlines some of his vision for the brand.
While I understand the commercial imperative under which the company is operating, it’s nice to see that some of his ideas go beyond branding to look at how the intrinsically explorative nature of Foursquare can be used. For instance, Foursquare has scattered historical trivia around the world on behalf of The History Channel. Granted, this is brand-focussed, but the opportunity for educators is a huge one here.
Exploration as a learning process is a tried and tested one, and when Crowley talks about “creating serendipity” for Foursquare users, it would be great to think that this applies as much to learning about the world as it does to navigating its brands.
The Surprise Manifesto 