The problem
I have been following foursquare for quite some time now. The idea itself is really out of the box, and initially it was relatively misunderstood. Users kept asking, why would I want to disclose my location? However, as the importance of creating a digital identity and the continued adoption of smartphones and the transition from desktop internet consumption to mobile, people were less worried about giving out personal details of their life. I went through the entire check-in craze, to collect badges, get mayorships, but there came point where I asked myself, what’s the point anymore?
Yes, checkins and badges are cool but you grow out of it. foursquare has since released some amazing product features such as “explore”. However, they haven’t really released any substantive initiatives to re-incentivize usage beyond badges. Yes, I still use foursquare, but badges don’t really excite me anymore. And I’m sure a lot of other users will agree with me. This is one of the main reasons why foursquare has experienced serious retention problems. People sign up for it, because they think it’s cool, but they eventually grow out of it and the Company has not evolved with its users.
A company like foursquare at this stage has a ton of challenges. How do you scale it, how do you keep growing users, and how do you make sure your current users are continuously engaged with the product? Those are great/tough challenges to have. How does one deal with these challenges? My personal opinion: Get your users excited! Challenge them! Take the badges to the next level.
Connoisseurship
Foursquare should adopt an incentivization program allowing users to become a connoisseur of a specific area. This ranking would be socially ascribed and based partially on the activity of the user and partially on the quality of his contribution as determined by the wider foursquare community. Giving the opportunity to users to focus on an area of expertise is a great way to let them identify themselves as unique individuals create sticky relationships with the stronger contributors, reinforcing the network effect. Yelp did this for its dedicated users through its Power Yelper program to great success. Reward them, give them a reason to stick with your product as opposed to growing out of it so quickly.
What does the connoisseurship specifically entail? You can be a connoisseur in anything! Mac & cheese connoisseur for instance (I know that I would be the first one to get that :)) Or a graffiti connoisseur, let users find the best graffiti’s in town, let them post pictures, write comments. Make it challenging to get these connoisseurships, have them work at it (by posting pictures, writing tips etc). Most importantly, you can create a more social environment by creating meetups for people with similar interests. And you will solve your problem of users who can’t find any friends there. Not only, this will help your retention problem, it will also allow you to become more a utility. As your loyal users are trying so hard to create content, it will help other users who are seeking for information easier to find. Importantly, these initiatives will drive content generation which in turn will drive SEO improvements and organic growth.
Following
Lastly, expanding on the subject of distribution, why can’t you have the option to follow people on foursquare? We have seen twitterification of facebook and yet foursquare still only allows you friend people. You can’t even put up a headline, to identify yourself, a way to make yourself unique… The product itself is limiting its users where we are at a time, digital identity is one of the most important things out there, and the ability of expressing yourself is crucial.
These are my two cents. Best of luck to foursquare!
