My Thoughts On Foursquare Etiquette

Let me start this off with an aside: if you run a computer with Windows and you receive a blue boot-up screen that starts with, “Stop: c000021a {Fatal System Error}…” I can empathize completely. My weekend was filled with efforts to combat that very problem, and it ended with CompUSA doing an outstanding job getting my laptop up and running again. So, my website/blog layout revisions will be a week later than planned, but I hope to have everything ready for viewing by early next week.

Now, I have read a few other posts about Foursquare etiquette and my favorite has to be from Old Media, New Tricks. I would like to take some of those thoughts and add a few of my own regarding Foursquare (and any other application like it; Gowalla for example). I have been using Foursquare for a while now, but I am by no means an expert or the final answer in proper etiquette when using this location-based social gaming platform. These are just some observations and suggestions…

How can there be two Chili’s restaurants on this street? If you go to check-in at local business and you notice that there’s already a listing for that establishment, but it isn’t very detailed, just update the existing listing. Please don’t create a 2nd listing for the same place. This goes the same for deleting a closed location or updating the address of a business that moved down the street.

Integrating Facebook and Twitter. I am going to paste this one verbatim from Old Media, New Tricks courtesy of Benedict Wong because I don’t think I could word it better: it’s easy to connect your Foursquare account to your Facebook and Twitter profiles; that said, it’s easy to spam your Facebook and Twitter contacts with your check-ins. Be mindful of how often you cross-post, and make sure to cross-post only things you think are important. Going to McDonald’s in a drunken stupor at 4am with someone who’s not your significant other? It may be risky enough to post it on Foursquare, but especially don’t post it elsewhere.

Do you really want me checking-in at your house? Just for fun, drive around your neighborhood and see how many people list their homes as check-in spots. Points or no points, I’m not checking-in at your house even if I am just one more check-in away from unlocking the next badge. Plus, you should already be the Mayor of your home, and if you’re not, Foursquare can’t really help you. That brings me to the next point…

Does being the Mayor of your company come with perks? I know a lot of people who like to check-in and become the Mayor of the company they work for, but I don’t really see the point. Checking-in should be more organic and spontaneous than checking-in at a place where you have to be every workday. You and a Foursquare friend check-in at a local restaurant at the same time by coincidence? Awesome. You and a coworker check-in at your company’s break room at the same time? Not so awesome.

Be cautious of the Foursquare “drive-by.” Please don’t pull into the parking lot of your favorite local watering hole just to check-in and drive off. I have heard of this happening several times, and I will say that I’ve seen this done once, but I will not list the name of the drive-by offender.

Companies, tread lightly. I have received a handful of friend requests from people in other countries whom I’ve never met or heard of. I will almost always accept a friend request if the person has an avatar picture and at least a few other friends. But, I have also received friend requests from companies and I usually decline them. To me, it’s a lot like a company making a Facebook profile page for the business instead of a business page just so they can send out friend requests. I know of several companies that do this, and I’m sure you do, too.

If you want to offer location-based specials and incentives for checking-in at your business, I’m all for that and I think it is a great marketing decision to do so.

Here comes the important part — what do you think? I would love your thoughts, additions, funny Foursquare stories, and so on. If you live in Texas and have any questions about advertising or social media in the Fort Worth area, let me know. If you live in another state/city, I might be able to answer any questions that you have, too! Feel free to comment below or send me an email.

Tags: ad agencies ft. worth, advertising blog, creative fort worth, fort worth addy, fort worth advertising, fort worth marketing, fort worth social media strategy, ft. worth copywriting, social media fort worth, stephen young advertising dfw