If I think about it, I think the real intent behind Foursquare is for people to have more "flesh meets" with people they already know. Or at least to contact them more often. The site allows users to get updates on where their friends are whenever the friends check in. For me, this meant that a couple of my friends came into Chipotle and started talking to me one day. This freaked me out a bit until I realized that just a few minutes before they walked in, I had checked in at Chipotle.
Really, what's the point of telling your friends where you are if you don't want to see them? Some people use check-ins as an opportunity to brag about where they are or to create a sort of persona (always at the gym, always at the airport, etc.) and I have to admit that if I were on vacation, I'd probably check in everywhere, just to say I had. "Just to say I did" is also a big motivation for people on Foursquare, I think. I'm currently the mayor of five places, and none of these are places where I receive any kind of recognition or coupons or any of that. I've simply checked in there more than anyone else in the past two months, and Foursquare calls me the mayor.
I think Foursquare really wants to encourage "flesh meets", though, based on what Foursquare itself has done. With a few of my friends that I see a lot, I get "BFF bonus" points for checking in with them a few times a week. The point, Foursquare seems to be suggesting, is that you're supposed to be together in using the app. After my initial embarrassment, I've decided that you're supposed to run around Six Flags checking in at every roller coaster. And you know what? It's a lot of fun to become mayor of the only roller coaster that ever makes you feel sick and to spend the day acting like a fool with your other Foursquare using friends - in person.
Do any of your sites encourage flesh meets in a sort of backhanded way? What about those that have them set up intentionally - do they encourage having more non-organized flesh meets after your first site-organized one?
My site (BuzzNet) does not encourage any sort of intentional flesh meets. However, a few members of the site do advertise where they are (an event, concert etc.) and what they are doing. By looking at the site it looks like they have had some "flesh meets" as a result. I'm not sure exactly how members feel about these flesh meets, but I have noticed that they still continue to advertise where they are and what they're doing.
ReplyDeleteFor a large portion of researching Lookbook.nu I thought there were no sorts of "flesh meets." However, I recently found out there are some...at least a romantic one. I was looking over Jason's interview. He was interviewed for having the highest "hype." It turned out that in one of his responses, he mentioned his girlfriend. Then, I found out that they actually first met online on Lookbook! They would give each other hype, send each other comments, but then realized it was time to actually meet face-to-face (luckily, they both live in Paris). The couple has been dating for more than a year now.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the purpose of Lookbook.nu is most certainly not to find a partner, there are some specific qualities of the site that facilitate doing so. Only certain people are on the site - only creative, fashion-inclined, artsy people. Creative people, most of the time, date creative people. In addition, there is a feature in the site where you can look for people in your same area. So, with this couple's experience, it's safe to say that although the site doesn't particularly resemble eHarmony, users can find romantic partners, or at least friendships, online and offline.
I didn't know there was a BFF point feature! None of my close friends use foursquare, and I am never at the same place at the same time with any of my foursquare friends! Very neat!
ReplyDeleteMy site does not really promote flesh meets, but a lot of the users have friends on there that they met in real life. I think foursquare has something really interesting going on by not literally telling you to have flesh meets, but having flesh meets as a natural reprecussion of using the site. They really have integrated the web and reality elements seamlessly.
ReplyDelete