Location-based, or ‘geosocial’ networking has been tipped as ‘the next big thing’ for the past few years now and although still not completely mainstream, the market is certainly progressing rapidly.
Foursquare in particular has come on leaps and bounds over the past few years, making real gains in improving it’s features for it’s users as well as brands & businesses.
Since the location-based social network went global in November 2009 it’s met a number of impressive milestones. In July of this year the company announced 10 million members and counting which was big news considering the pressure it came under from it’s biggest competition, Facebook Places.
The latest addition to Foursquare’s toolbox comes in the form of ‘lists’, which allow users to collate and share bundles of their favourite places with their friends or entire Foursquare community, should they wish.
Local experts and wannabe-tour guides will relish in being able to promote their favourite local spots and tourists will undoubtedly benefit from such local knowledge, but it could be the venues themselves who benefit most from lists. Until now users have been able to check-in and leave tips about a venue but getting ‘listed’ by the the more ‘socially influential’ users out there could drive a lot more business and general brand awareness.
Making lists is a doddle, upon logging in to Foursquare.com you’ll be prompted to create a list based on your check-ins and other local, popular venues suggested by Foursquare.
When you add a venue to your list you have the option to leave a tip or pull in tips left by other users, you can also include an image of the venue making the lists very rich in information.
There’s also the option to have collaborative lists which takes the social aspect of Foursquare to a whole new level.
Lists are currently only accessible at foursquare.com but a recent conversation on the Foursquare blog suggests mobile access will be here soon.
Ever the curious bunch we created a list of our own. It has to be said it was super easy and we’ll definitely be putting this feature to use more often, check it out here – foursquare.com/user/9212201/list/browsers-out-of-office-favourites.
