why me and foursquare are done-zo. i’ve given this a lot of thought and i think i’m done checking in on foursquare. this isn’t some grandiose “deleting myself” statement, only because even though i talk endlessly about doing it on facebook, the reality is that i don’t have to delete myself entirely from something to stop using it. the bottom line is that it’s just stopped being fun for me. i hate to sound like some e-hipster, bemoaning a time when websites were cool before “everybody” discovered them, but that’s kinda the case here.  with sites like twitter and tumblr, i still control my little universe and can decide who and what i choose to follow.  i control that experience.  with foursquare, that’s less of an option. so first, when i want to check in somewhere, i have to deal with the fact that increased user traffic has crippled the foursquare app, having it crash one out of every four times.  check-ins seem to take three times as long these days.  it’s annoying. then, as the user base went from tech geeks and first adopters to the general iphone-owning public, i now have to wade through twenty bullshit venues like everyone’s houses, bathroom stalls, and parking decks before i can find the actual real location that i’m trying to check in to. also, as the user base grows and grows, it becomes difficult to the point of ridiculousness to hold on to or earn a mayorship.  i like coffee as much as the next guy, but i’m not gonna drop $50 more a week at my favorite coffeeshop just to hang on to an internet claim-to-fame that means absolutely nothing in real life.  when less people were playing, it was just easier to create new venues and snag mayorships.  now, it just doesn’t feel like it’s worth trying. the last bastion of fun for foursquare was badges, but now that’s even tainted.  just sign up to be friends with various large corporations who love to dip their toes into social media, and you can earn all kinds of meaningless badges. for those of you who never used foursquare, you’re probably reading this and shouting “I TOLD YOU SO!” at the computer screen.  fair enough, but it WAS really fun for a while.  it just has a short shelf life.  and i suppose that’s okay. we’ll see what’s next.  i always love trying out new social media stuff and new technology.  this one just wasn’t the right fit for me.

why me and foursquare are done-zo.

i’ve given this a lot of thought and i think i’m done checking in on foursquare.

this isn’t some grandiose “deleting myself” statement, only because even though i talk endlessly about doing it on facebook, the reality is that i don’t have to delete myself entirely from something to stop using it.

the bottom line is that it’s just stopped being fun for me.

i hate to sound like some e-hipster, bemoaning a time when websites were cool before “everybody” discovered them, but that’s kinda the case here.  with sites like twitter and tumblr, i still control my little universe and can decide who and what i choose to follow.  i control that experience.  with foursquare, that’s less of an option.

so first, when i want to check in somewhere, i have to deal with the fact that increased user traffic has crippled the foursquare app, having it crash one out of every four times.  check-ins seem to take three times as long these days.  it’s annoying.

then, as the user base went from tech geeks and first adopters to the general iphone-owning public, i now have to wade through twenty bullshit venues like everyone’s houses, bathroom stalls, and parking decks before i can find the actual real location that i’m trying to check in to.

also, as the user base grows and grows, it becomes difficult to the point of ridiculousness to hold on to or earn a mayorship.  i like coffee as much as the next guy, but i’m not gonna drop $50 more a week at my favorite coffeeshop just to hang on to an internet claim-to-fame that means absolutely nothing in real life.  when less people were playing, it was just easier to create new venues and snag mayorships.  now, it just doesn’t feel like it’s worth trying.

the last bastion of fun for foursquare was badges, but now that’s even tainted.  just sign up to be friends with various large corporations who love to dip their toes into social media, and you can earn all kinds of meaningless badges.

for those of you who never used foursquare, you’re probably reading this and shouting “I TOLD YOU SO!” at the computer screen.  fair enough, but it WAS really fun for a while.  it just has a short shelf life.  and i suppose that’s okay.

we’ll see what’s next.  i always love trying out new social media stuff and new technology.  this one just wasn’t the right fit for me.