Officially Retiring Foursquare

I was never really the biggest fan of Foursquare

I did it, sort of to experiment with it but also because I thought it might be a worth while platform. I think I gave it a fair shot, and despite my wife’s protests, I stayed strong for a nice amount of time.

Until today

As of July 9th 2012, I am removing myself from foursquare and deleting the app from my phone.

It’s not that I don’t think Foursquare is a worth while platform. This is more of a personal decision.

Here are my reason why:

1. I Simply Don’t Value It
   Frankly, in order for a platform to mean much of anything to me, there has to be engagement. I am not saying that it doesn’t work for some people, but Foursquare never did it for me. The relationships I built on it were few and far between. Yes, it was the first place I ever connected with Nancy Loo, but I talk to her on Twitter too. The once in a while connection on Foursquare isn’t enough to keep that alive for me.
2. Time to Maintain Another Platform 
   I am always stressing (well, not really stressing, but thinking about) checking in. Yes, I have been hooked in that regard, but really, what do I care about that? Only once or twice have I been in the same place as a fellow connection. And in those times, while I tried to reach out to them, it never really worked. Once I was with Gemma Craven at a local NY Pub, and we both checked in and tried to connect to the random other user in the bar, but to no avail.
3. Benefits and Discounts Lacking
   I am not really a foodie and yes I have seen a deal here and there, but the value of checking in somewhere is really only as good as “finding” one of those deals. The handful I have found have not paid off.
4. Games You Can’t Win Kinda Stink
   Well, I suppose this is also one of the values. That it can be fun. Listen, I am all for Social Media fun. But to be honest, when I joined Spark about 4 months ago, I decided that I wanted to become the mayor. So day after day I checked in until one day, I finally became the mayor. Only to have it torn away from me for no apparent reason, despite my consistent check-ins. And no, I am not going after it again. She can keep the mayorship for all I care 🙂
5. Security
   This might be the single biggest reason I am removing myself and when I had this awakening moment. This past weekend I took my family to Lake Geneva. I wanted nothing more than to check in at all the awesome things we did (Jelly Belly Factory, Indoor water park, Hotel Arcade etc.) but honestly, I couldn’t shake the feeling of how exposed I would have been. It’s one thing when its just me and my family is home (although, some may argue that is even stupider), but all I could think about on this vacation is how I am telling the entire foursquare and twitter world that I am gone, away from home, and they should come rob me. And it’s not that I don’t trust everyone I follow. I just don’t really know everyone who follows me. And I really didn’t want to get robbed.