There were fewer Foursquare Mayorships announced and fewer “I’m at _____ #foursquare” tweets today. The popular service, I mean game, in which people “check in” with friends at local establishments and unlock badges was down, out-of-service, a few times.
TechCrunch posted an article, “With Major Downtime, Foursquare Well On Its Way To Being The Next Twitter,” in which the comparison to Twitter is evident. People reacted feverishly to Foursquare’s version of Fail Whale.
TechCrunch reports on Foursquare "Whale"
The author, who was at the Web 2.0 Expo on May 4, the day the Foursquare Whale, noted:
Foursquare went down soon after the conference concluded, and at least a half dozen friends and colleagues I bumped into on the street were running around like chickens with their heads cut off not sure where to go without the aide of Foursquare. Yes, it’s kind of pathetic, but this is the age we live in.
Foursquare Rant
Word!
Yes, it is kind of pathetic.
Streams on Twitter had more value than usual tonight.
The Foursquare Fail Whale was a win, temporarily, for those of us who don’t want these updates in our streams.
I joined Foursquare and can see the value and opportunity to hook up with others. As a marketer, it’s da bomb. BUT, I don’t really don’t want to know my friends’ every move.
I understand the draw and addiction to social media, since we are relational beings. We want to know what our friends and others are doing. I am, however, purposefully not updating my status with answers to “What are you doing now?” I don’t aspire for Mayorship either.
What’s Next?
I Flush
Will the next cell phone app be called, “I Flushed” so people can let others know when they ____? Well, you get the picture!
Is social media turning into TMI (too much information)?
In Real Life
I really enjoy when I spend time with my IRL (in real life) friends who are NOT constantly on their cell phones posting what we are doing or where we are. I imagine they could care less if Foursquare went down the toilet.
</end rant>
