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Is Foursquare in trouble? Of course they are. Checking in is, as this post suggests, merely a feature (of Facebook). When it was rumored that Facebook made a bu

by cletus 15y ago

Is Foursquare in trouble? Of course they are. Checking in is, as this post suggests, merely a feature (of Facebook). When it was rumored that Facebook made a buyout offer my opinion was they should've taken it. Now? The best outcome I see for Foursquare is a talent acquisition.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
Spoom 15y ago
Yeah, I never really got the value of a service like Foursquare when social networks allowed you to share all of this information already. The checking in feature is clever but at least for me doesn't solve any yet-unsolved problem. (Additionally, I didn't like the idea of publishing my location at various times of the day, but that could just be my own paranoia.) I think the average user might be looking at Foursquare and thinking, "OK, what else?" They need to provide a good answer to that question.
- viscanti 15y ago
  Actually, I think they're facing the opposite problem. They don't need more. They're already trying to do too much. Is it a checkin service or a location review service, or is it a way to find discounts? To Foursquare's credit, they realized that checkins were just a feature and not a business by itself, so they've begun to expand. The problem is that there isn't a clear direction to where they're going. Apps that do a better job of providing reviews will likely win on that front. I see Foursquare's biggest potential in location based deals. I think that's muddled by their focus on everything else though. So I'd agree that they're in trouble. They aren't doomed, but they need to find their focus quickly or they'll be the next Gowalla.
aubergene 15y ago
I wouldn't trust Facebook (or Google places) with my checkins. My Foursquare friends are a select group of people I know well, isolated from other network groups. Also, what happened to do one thing and do it well?
- tatsuke95 15y ago
  "Also, what happened to do one thing and do it well?" This is an oft-missed point when discussing these tech services. Foursquare is a cool little product that many people find fun and interesting. It's done well, and within that context is fine. But what's wrong with these companies earning a few hundred grand in profit and maintaining a small, stable company? Instead, VCs throw money at them like it's going out of style, and we lavish the founders with platitudes like they invented electricity or cured cancer. In that context, of course they're in trouble. It's a check-in game for crying out loud. Last I heard, they had a valuation well over half a billion dollars. Really? So, in reality, they're not doing anything wrong. But our expectations for the next-big-thing are certainly out of whack.
  - phillmv 15y ago
    > Instead, VCs throw money at them like it's going out of style, and we lavish the founders with platitudes like they invented electricity or cured cancer. YOU KNOW WHAT'S COOL? A BILLION DOLLARS > Last I heard, they had a valuation well over half a billion dollars. Luckily for us, interest rates are unlikely to go up in the next year so we might ride this sucker out for a little longer.
  - po 15y ago
    It's a check-in game for crying out loud. Not really. It may have started that way, and that part may still exist in the application, but that's not why most people use it.
- rokhayakebe 15y ago
  Do one thing well means fix one problem very well; if check in alone doesn't solve the problem anymore you may want to rethink the solution.

by cletus 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

Spoom 15y ago

Yeah, I never really got the value of a service like Foursquare when social networks allowed you to share all of this information already. The checking in feature is clever but at least for me doesn't solve any yet-unsolved problem. (Additionally, I didn't like the idea of publishing my location at various times of the day, but that could just be my own paranoia.) I think the average user might be looking at Foursquare and thinking, "OK, what else?" They need to provide a good answer to that question.

viscanti 15y ago
Actually, I think they're facing the opposite problem. They don't need more. They're already trying to do too much. Is it a checkin service or a location review service, or is it a way to find discounts? To Foursquare's credit, they realized that checkins were just a feature and not a business by itself, so they've begun to expand. The problem is that there isn't a clear direction to where they're going. Apps that do a better job of providing reviews will likely win on that front. I see Foursquare's biggest potential in location based deals. I think that's muddled by their focus on everything else though. So I'd agree that they're in trouble. They aren't doomed, but they need to find their focus quickly or they'll be the next Gowalla.

aubergene 15y ago

I wouldn't trust Facebook (or Google places) with my checkins. My Foursquare friends are a select group of people I know well, isolated from other network groups. Also, what happened to do one thing and do it well?

tatsuke95 15y ago
"Also, what happened to do one thing and do it well?" This is an oft-missed point when discussing these tech services. Foursquare is a cool little product that many people find fun and interesting. It's done well, and within that context is fine. But what's wrong with these companies earning a few hundred grand in profit and maintaining a small, stable company? Instead, VCs throw money at them like it's going out of style, and we lavish the founders with platitudes like they invented electricity or cured cancer. In that context, of course they're in trouble. It's a check-in game for crying out loud. Last I heard, they had a valuation well over half a billion dollars. Really? So, in reality, they're not doing anything wrong. But our expectations for the next-big-thing are certainly out of whack.
- phillmv 15y ago
  > Instead, VCs throw money at them like it's going out of style, and we lavish the founders with platitudes like they invented electricity or cured cancer. YOU KNOW WHAT'S COOL? A BILLION DOLLARS > Last I heard, they had a valuation well over half a billion dollars. Luckily for us, interest rates are unlikely to go up in the next year so we might ride this sucker out for a little longer.
- po 15y ago
  It's a check-in game for crying out loud. Not really. It may have started that way, and that part may still exist in the application, but that's not why most people use it.
rokhayakebe 15y ago
Do one thing well means fix one problem very well; if check in alone doesn't solve the problem anymore you may want to rethink the solution.