A couple of months ago, Foursquare decided to create the Swarm app for checking-in and displaying nearby friends. The most recent update removes the check-in functionality of the main app and concentrates on making Foursquare a more personal experience.
Foursquare started in 2009 as a game. You could let the entire world (or just your friends) know where you are at a particular moment, and the more places you checked-in, the more points you obtained. Racing with friends to obtain supremacy week after week, or becoming the mayor of a particular spot was very fun, and actually encouraged you to visit more places or to become a regular in a location of your choice. This year, in May, Foursquare decided to focus on reviews, and created another app for checking-in, while still retaining some of that functionality in the main app. The new Foursquare, however, has none of that functionality, comes with a new logo, and made a goal from providing personalized recommendations of places you might like.
With the new update, the recommendations are tailored according to each user’s taste. As soon as the users “add tastes, follow experts, or even just walk around for a few days,” the app starts getting an idea about what other places they would like to visit. Foursquare and Swarm now complement each other perfectly, but can be used independently, as well.
Foursquare is also proud of its ever increasing userbase. In its most recent blog post, the company announced that it went past the 50 million user threshold, which is pretty impressive, considering the somehow limited functionality that this app used to have prior to the split.
Locations used to be the most important aspect about being a Foursquare user, but now communities have a lot more emphasis. It’s important what others think of a place, and it’s equally important who you’re tagging while checking-in. What some users don’t realize is that Foursquare is an ideal tool for keeping track of the places you’ve visited, especially if you’re in a foreign city or country that you might visit again in the future. Knowing where you felt good or bad will definitely help you make better decisions in the future.
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