Why do I use Foursquare, I’ve been asked this question several times. The service that wants you to tell others where you are makes little sense to many. I don’t blame them. I never started using Foursquare to tell others where I was, on the contrary to know where I was. It’s data for me. Where I was, with whom I was, what was I doing. When did I see a specific film, which restaurant I was at when I was traveling to a new city. These aspects of my life that I want to look back at. These are memories captured in time through technologies like GPS, a smart phone, 3G and services like Facebook or Foursquare.
I came to India for a month long vacation and traveled to many places in North India. I spent so much time on wheels that sitting at home I feel bored out of my wits. I went to the world’s highest cricket ground. I stayed at a palace. I visited the Golden Temple and a pretty classy lounge. All these events I can relive as I scroll through my Foursquare History. Unfortunately, Foursquare does not let me club these visits into a group that I can call my North India 2011 trip which would be a part of my Places I Visited In India During 2011-12 Vacation. I created a life event on Facebook, tagged my cousins and added all the locations but for some absurd reason, I can only add one picture. I clicked and shared many.
Foursquare has lists which I will use due to the lack of a better service within Foursquare. Facebook has given up on Places. It is no more about Checkins on Places. A life event of where you were is more relevant to your Facebook Timeline now, Facebook perhaps realizes that.
If only Foursquare asked me when I checked in to an Airport, Bus Stand or a Railway Station that if this was a new trip and then allowed me to flag each subsequent check in as part of this trip it would make for the simplest solution to an aspect of location services that doesn’t exist today. If Foursquare could then present this in a manner that could make me relive those moments with pictures, it will be more than just me checking in to a location. There will be an emotional connect that I can share with friends and family. Sending them a link to this “trip” would make my life easy and theirs joyful as they go through the images and places. The story will tell itself…