FourSQUARE and Seven Years Ago!

The most intriguing thing lately has been “seeing where people are.”  With the new feature on Facebook for iPhone called, “Places” one is able to broadcast their location from anywhere they are.  It works like, “checking-in.”  It posts to the newsfeed so that friends can see where everyone is.  Also, one is able to tag the people that they are with, in the post of their location.  There are many interesting aspects of these new features including the wonder of how safe it is; however, since it is on Facebook, the user controls their privacy through who views their profile.

Another very popular app on the rise is Foursquare.  This application is so addicting.  At first, I was reluctant to give it a try because I really was not sure of the safety of it.  For everyone to know where I was all the time?  That’s weird.  This is when I neglected to realize that Foursquare was not an element of Facebook, it is it's own application for the iPhone.

Foursquare allows the user to check in at a place when they first arrive.  You have the choice to share your check in with friends or not to share the check in at all.  Also, you pick and chose whom your friends are.  Foursquare allows the user to search through Twitter followers and Facebook friends to find others in your social circle that also use Foursquare.  If a certain amount of check-in’s at the same place occurs, you may become “the mayor” of that certain place. 

Foursquare also has the ability to attain “badges” as the user checks in at each venue.  The competition of this application is what keeps users involved in this application.  If the location that a user is at does not exist in the Foursquare application, the user may add it for further check-in’s. 

When the user clicks on the “friends” tab on the bottom, they are brought to what can be compared as a timeline, of all of their friends.  There is an option to see who checked in places recently or nearby.  When clicking on the places tab, this is where you search for your place to check in.  The tips tab allows other users to share tips about venues, also “to-do’s.”  When the user clicks on the name tab, it brings you back to home, where you see all of your check-in’s for the most recent history as well as any mayorships on may have or badges.

Another application that is not yet popular, is similar to Foursquare and is almost the same thing: Miso.  Miso is an application that allows the user to “check-in” to the television program, or movie that they are watching at that time.  It also shows other users that are tuning into the same program. 

These two applications are most definitely on the rise and it will be interesting to see where they go in the future.  Foursquare and Miso may just be the new Facebook and Twitter and are definitely making their mark on the social networking websites.  These application also may help the user daily by reminding them where they have/haven’t gone, and introduce them to new places.  Miso may introduce the user to newer television programs.  Either way, both are new ways to express and share.

Does anyone use Foursquare/ Miso?  What are your experiences?