It appears that everyone is getting on board with Foursquare, which has become what Twitter was a few years ago and of course, Facebook.  It is the site where everyone is getting on to check in at various locations, become mayors and earning badges, and making new friends and connections.  In addition, Foursquare also allows you to connect to your Twitter and Facebook sites, which has created more opportunities for others to share what they are doing in terms of checking in using Foursquare.  However, what are the current trends being implemented among businesses with Foursquare?  What are other ways people can implement and use Foursquare in other professions?  Well, there are numerous opportunities out there for people to use Foursquare, and that is what makes it so exciting!

Technology continues to change and evolve, and public relations professionals have to make sure that they are up-to-date with the latest sites and technology to be the most effective and cutting edge.  Brian Solis wrote a great post on how Foursquare means business for professionals and corporations today – Solis mentions how Foursquare combines all of the elements for success – Foursquare allows you to be mobile, interact with others in real time, and it is another way to interact with others on the site. There are many reasons why people are using and heading to location based applications, but the real question is – how long will this trend last?  Will Foursquare be the next Facebook or Twitter, or will it just be a fad – or.. will it become the new standard for social media applications and sites?

I would think that the later statement would be true.  The more integrated a site is with its features to become a one-stop shop for professionals and others to use – the more successful they will be.  Look at how Facebook allows you to IM, share pictures and videos, and use as email – this is very convenient for people to use.  I would say that if Foursquare does this as well – who knows where they will end up.  A recent post from AdAge discusses how Foursquare has grown leaps and bounds – yet there are some issues and considerations that they need to consider.  For example, do people and businesses really care where people are located?  What are the issues and risks associated with broadcasting your location to the world?  Or, how can location based applications help crisis and risk professionals in a disaster or crisis situation?  What are the PR implications and opportunities with location based marketing?  Corporations like Starbucks and television stations like TLC are really using location based applications in their marketing and public relations campaigns.  These questions still need to be explored further – so I imagine these would be very interesting and cutting edge research projects to look at. 🙂

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen