In the Game of Foursquare, S.F. Wins
Since we've moved up to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, we've noticed a strange phenomenon. Our new friends have an easier time finding each other and the places they've decided to congregate.
Suspecting that perhaps this is because San Francisco checks in on the geo-locational social gaming App Foursquare more than any other city, SF Weekly contacted Foursquare founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai to get the scoop.
"SF is most active city right now, [with] London growing quickly," Crowley confirmed in an email. But lest New York (where Foursquare was founded) starts shaking in its high-heeled boots, Selvadurai added that "SF has more daytime check-ins, like at coffee shops," while NYC owns the night.
Those in doubt of the growing popularity of the platform and iPhone App might cite the fact that a number of people dressed as Foursquare for Halloween including Techcrunch uber-blogger MG Siegler. And MG was not alone. Selvadurai reports that someone had dressed as the Foursquare Girl in New York as well as the check in button (!?).
Selvadurai explained the appeal to S.F. urbanites as such: "We all live in big cities we're pretty young but we all do the same thing over and over again." Describing checking in as "hacking into your city," Foursquare's plans for the future are ambitious: "the more we're seeing all this data, the more we will be able to pin-point exactly what you will need." When we remarked that we really need is a Douchebag badge for S.F. (New York has one, which you receive if you check into places like the Princeton Club), Selvadurai laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do."
Follow us on Twitter at @sfweekly and @alexiatsotsis.
Suspecting that perhaps this is because San Francisco checks in on the geo-locational social gaming App Foursquare more than any other city, SF Weekly contacted Foursquare founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai to get the scoop.
"SF is most active city right now, [with] London growing quickly," Crowley confirmed in an email. But lest New York (where Foursquare was founded) starts shaking in its high-heeled boots, Selvadurai added that "SF has more daytime check-ins, like at coffee shops," while NYC owns the night.
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| When a Techcrunch reporter dons a costume of your App, you know you're in a good place. |
Well where exactly are we checking in? Below are the top ten Bay Area check-in locations, via Social Great.
While it looks like most people checking in at S.F. locations are either coming or going (hello SFO!), it seems as if the corporate headquarters of Facebook are taking the Digg offices to the mattresses in terms of user engagement. Needless to say SF Weekly HQ did not make the leaderboard.1. San Francisco International Airport
2. Cento
3. Epicenter
4. Facebook HQ
5. Dolores Park
7. Zeitgeist
8. AT & T Park
10. Digg HQ
Selvadurai explained the appeal to S.F. urbanites as such: "We all live in big cities we're pretty young but we all do the same thing over and over again." Describing checking in as "hacking into your city," Foursquare's plans for the future are ambitious: "the more we're seeing all this data, the more we will be able to pin-point exactly what you will need." When we remarked that we really need is a Douchebag badge for S.F. (New York has one, which you receive if you check into places like the Princeton Club), Selvadurai laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do."
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Follow us on Twitter at @sfweekly and @alexiatsotsis.
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