Post date: Oct 23, 2011 9:46:50 AM
Foursquare is a location based social networking game. Users 'check in' at locations announcing they have been there in competition to become mayor. People contribute through submitting their thoughts, locations, pictures, information about their current location and friends (Wikipedia, 2010).
Utilizing features only available on cell phones has heavily contributed to Foursquare's functionality and success. Photos are taken using cameras, locations recorded using cell location services and the application relies on a phone's connectivity (Foursquare, 2010). In the company of desktop computers, Foursquare can be used on iPhones, Android phones, Blackberrys, Windows mobiles and systems running webOS (Foursquare, 2010), and currently an application is being developed for Nokia handsets.
Foursquare seeks to provide a service that will dramatically decrease the void between the offline and online business and entertainment model. This participation built model incorporates many of the best practices of Web2.0 and successfully meets the patterns that influence with dynamics of the Web. Its future impact of this application is dependent on its successful integration of the eight patterns, and are analysed in greater detail in this report.
In a versatile industry there are also continual issues that surround large scale social networking websites. Privacy and content legal battles have been headlines on a number of platforms such as Facebook and Google. Foursquare has a clean slate for now but the inevitable consequence of their participative, user driven model is controlling content can be difficult. Also the collection of data proposes a threat on users which means there must be a level of trust between from the user. Many of these conflicts are common in today's technology climate and can be preventable if best practices outlined within this reports are followed. These guidelines can aid all websites to structure and provide content that will successfully integrate technology into society and avoid legal implication in the life-cycle.
This analysis is made up of three parts:
Foursquare and the Eight Patterns of Web 2.0