Foursquare is a location-based social network that motivates its users to get out and explore a city using three basic concepts – loyalty, encouragement and discovery. In January of 2011, Foursquare stated on its blog that the company grew 3,400%. That's not up to Facebook's numbers, but the platform has made a place for itself in the social media world and has a dedicated base of users around the globe - Foursquare is reportedly nearing 7 million users. Now that it has been around for a while, we were curious to discover what influences users to participate.
Foursquare is best known for its badges, which users get when they check-in to certain places. Users can also gain the title of "Mayor" when they've been to a place more than anyone else using Foursquare. Other elements that play into Foursquare's game dynamics include special offers and tips.
We set out to discover which elements are most influential to Foursquare users. Here are our results:
As a Foursquare user myself, I find that one of these elements alone is not what makes it so interesting. It's when all these elements work together that I find the most value in using Foursquare. There are certain restaurants and locations where I would like to remain Mayor, and other places I'd go to just to get a badge. As new features are added or improved upon, the dynamics of Foursquare will continue to change.
What elements of Foursquare influence you the most? Tell us in the comments below.
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Nathan King is a Digital Strategist at Long Island advertising agency Austin & Williams and a leader in Social Media marketing. To read more about Nathan, visit his bio section on the A&W Web site.
Comments – 6 responses to “The Influence of Foursquare (Infographic)”
Care to comment? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
May 13, 2011 at 5:29 PM I wish Foursquare would find a way to really pull in a B2B approach using this little gem. There has to be a way.
May 13, 2011 at 7:25 PM Maciej - Thank you for commenting. I think B2B would be difficult with Foursquare. Their website states that the purpose of the social network is to help people explore cities. For B2B, would the entire framework have to change?
Mar 31, 2012 at 7:20 AM Hi Nathan,I was working on a project which is about social location based marketing and I wanna use your infografic in my report. Can you please share the details of your survey such as the number and demografic information of people who participates.
Apr 16, 2012 at 9:07 PM great infographic! A question: How many respondents were involved?
Thanks!
Apr 17, 2012 at 9:21 AM @SB - It was a while ago and I don't remember the exact number. My best estimate would be 200-400 active Foursquare users. That seemed like enough people to get some significant data.
Feb 15, 2013 at 9:29 PM It was a while ago and I don't remember the exact number.