Cyberstalking in Binghamton Made Easy! The case for (and against [but mostly for]) FourSquare!
August 9th, 2010
We all know Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have made it easier to answer some of life’s greatest questions. Questions like:
“Who did my ex go to dinner with last night?” And, “where exactly is my ex spending his lunch hour?” And, “why is that bitch leaving winky emoticon messages on my ex’s Facebook wall?” And, “why does my ex’s relationship status still say ‘in a relationship’? Is she still in love with me? Do we still have a chance? Should I send her 14 more drunk texts at 3 AM?”
Yes, it’s true, social media is for cyber-stalking your ex. And other stuff. But mainly cyber-stalking your ex.
It’s also useful for finding out if your boss is secretly a member of the Tea Party and really bad at setting his privacy settings.
And now a new cell phone app called “Foursquare” makes it just a bit easier to do some casual weekend cyberstalking.
You’ve probably heard of Foursquare. And you either kinda sorta know what it is… or, you’re addicted.
Here’s how it works: You go to Lost Dog. Then your smartphone goes, “Hey, are you at Lost Dog?” And you go, “Yup, of course I’m at Lost Dog. Besides having great food, it’s like THE ONLY PLACE TO EAT IN BINGHAMTON ON A MONDAY NIGHT.” So your phone, ignoring your bitchy aside, “checks you in” at Lost Dog and tells all your buddies’ cell phones exactly where you are. This has two purposes: 1) on a Saturday night, rather than texting a hundred different people to tell them where to meet up, they just KNOW. And 2) It brings you one-step closer to being the “Mayor” of that bar/restaurant/café/etc. And if you’re MAYOR, you might get a special freebee…
And Bingo businesses are starting to get on board with the special offers. Here are just a few:
CYBER CAFE WEST
"Hey thanks for coming by a bunch! Enjoy a half price beverage of your choice."
TRANQUIL
"$1 Shot Every 3rd Check-In."
MY BOUTIQUE
"One half price item on your first check-in! Stop by. Only available for Foursquare users like you!"
MERLINS
"One shot on the house for the FourSquare Mayor."
HACKERTHREADS (Coming Soon)
"10% off your order with your first check-in!"
Of course, there are now FourSquare snobs. Local FourSquare aficionado Amy, upon learning that I was Mayor of 13 different venues, asked “Yeah, but what’s the QUALITY of your mayorships?”
She was NOT impressed by the corner Quickway near the radio station.
Please. Those rotating spiced wieners are a delicacy in my home.
And then there are the FourSquare CHEATERS. Downtown Bing resident Alex L thought himself an absolute laugh riot when he made himself Mayor of my apartment without ever having stepped foot inside.
Although what it says about him that he traveled to the end of my block with his IPhone several times just to check in I’ll let you judge for yourself.
Business owners need not be that concerned about cheating. Without going into too much detail, FourSquare has made a pretty good effort to ensure that it’s difficult to game the system.
And just for the sake of public commendation (or humiliation), here are some current FourSquare mayors of popular local venues (all publicly viewable at FourSquare.com).
Flashbacks: Rich B
Sake Tumi: Scott B
BU’s Anderson Center: Amy W
The Olive Garden in Vestal: Erin
Mad Moose: Jeffery W
Antonio’s Galleria and Café: John C
Applebee’s in Vestal: Char R
Otsiningo Park: Dan
Thai Thai: Sean M
Pete’s Legacy Diner: Luke B
It’s actually an awful lot of fun to see who goes where. I, BTW, have been publicly shamed over my mayorship of the Chinese buffet—which does not speak well of my eating habits. PS, I’m also the Mayor at the Vestal Planet Fitness, so you can just F* off health nazis. And if you try to take that mayorship from me, I’m not above paying the overly smiley desk attendants to make sure your treadmill “malfunctions” during your morning run.
SEVERAL WORDS OF CAUTION: There are a number of obscenely stupid ways you can get your house robbed by using FourSquare. Mainly, you need to chose your FourSquare “friends” carefully. Don’t accept a request from anybody, well, likely to rob your home. Remember Stranger Danger! Also, consider that if you link your FourSquare to Twitter or Facebook, ANYBODY WHO HAS ACCESS TO THOSE PROFILES can also view where you’re at. And for most people, Twitter updates are publicly accessable.
So the moral of the story? Use FourSquare in and around Bingo. It’s good to discover new crap to do (and therefore great for local business). But it is, generally speaking, bad to have your house robbed. So don’t be an idiot while you’re using it.
Thanks for checking in. We’re back!
Yeah! Welcome back BingPop!
You forgot to mention about mayorship wars! (and how taking a break from your routine can make you lose them for the next two months)
I agree. I SHOULD have mentioned Mayor wars. That’s how I lost Tranquil. *sniff*
OK, so I joined. Are you gonna friend me or what?
I laughed at the term ‘FourSquare Snobs.’ Very true. Some of my friends have indicated my ‘mayorships’ aren’t of high quality. But I’m proud to call Schneiders my small-town grocery store.