Foursquare Goes Through A Metamorphosis

The New Foursquare

Image courtesy of Texaner

Foursquare as you know it will vanish this summer. In its place is a completely new, built-from-scratch, “discovery-focused” version of Foursquare. Gone will be its signature check-in feature, and in its place will be reviews and recommendations similar to services like the ever-popular Yelp. A Verge article by Ben Popper and Ellis Hamburger explains the surprising transformation. According to the article, CEO Dennis Crowley has spent the last year trying to convince the world that Foursquare isn’t what it used to be.

“The new Foursquare will ditch the check-in and focus solely on exploration and discovery, finally positioning itself as a true Yelp-killer in the battle to provide great local search,” Hamburger and Popper say.

But why these sudden changes? Foursquare execs found that having to check in as soon you open the app was scaring off a lot of users. The company tested what users search for when using the original app, and only once in 20 times did a search involve both social and discovery, social meaning checking in. Discovery is more of the looking for new restaurants and destinations that Foursquare really wants to capitalize on in the future.

“People use Foursquare for two things, to keep up and meet up with their friends and to discover great places. Every month, tens of millions of people open up the app to do each,” according to the Foursquare blog.

Foursquare and Local Search

Image courtesy of ProjectManhattan

Foursquare is also addressing local search and has a lot to say about it. This seems to be a main reason for the recent transformation. In multiple blog posts, the company talks about its future in local search.

“Local search today is like the digital version of browsing through the Yellow Pages (remember those?)…We believe local search is fundamentally broken. Too many people are using antiquated tools to find places to go and getting the same one-size-fits-all results regardless of their interests or places they’ve been before. We’re reimagining Foursquare to provide people with the whole new local discovery experience,” says Foursquare.

Businesses can capitalize on the new Foursquare buzz and improve local search results by claiming or creating new listings. Simply update your information on your Foursquare business page, and the data will automatically be updated on the new Swarm app as well as across other sites like Pinterest, Vine and Flickr, as Foursquare is the motherboard for nearly all apps using location data, as a Clickz article by Angie Pascale explains. Also, once you create a page for your brand, you can measure the analytics of your business and see demographic and check-in information.

Introducing Swarm

Image courtesy of Swarm

In addition to the new and improved Foursquare, there’s a brand new app called Swarm that just hit the shelves. Swarm is a social heat map that helps users find friends and interesting things to to do in their current location, according to Pascale. An E-consultancy article by Ben Davis sums it up brilliantly.

“If you didn’t know, Foursquare is breaking up, but in a constructive way. It’s not you, it’s them, but don’t worry, the whole thing is amicable,” Davis says.

During months of testing, the company found that “unbundling the two halves of Foursquare made each experience more focused and efficient. Sessions were shorter but more frequent,” Verge reports. Currently only 5 percent of users are using Foursquare to find both friends and a restaurant, according to the Verge article, so the company’s decided to split into two separate apps. Foursquare says both apps can work seamlessly together. Use Swarm for more social activities like meeting up with friends, and use Foursquare to discover great new places.

Swarm’s three main features are plans, neighborhood sharing and history search. You can literally “make a plan” with your friends to meet up for beers through Swarm, just simply type in what you want to do and see what responses you get. With neighborhood sharing, friends in your city can see when you’re in the neighborhood, making it easy to meet up. Turn it on our off at your leisure. Lastly, history search allows you to go back through your old check-ins. It’s great if you can’t remember exactly where you got that great slice of pizza. Swarm will also keep Foursquare favorites like mayorships and stickers. Swarm also makes it easy to share where you are and who you’re with. Like Facebook and Twitter, it will autocomplete the names of friends you’re with when making a status or checking in.

Will Swarm Become Popular?

Image courtesy of Swarm

Critics are wondering if people will want to use two different apps and whether Swarm will truly catch on. Yes, all Foursquare users are automatically signed up for Swarm, but that doesn’t mean people will use it. The app is designed to tell you which users are nearby, but if your friends aren’t using it, that functionality really won’t work, Davis says.

The new Foursquare may also alienate loyal users who rely on check-ins for personal recommendations and enjoy the check-in process. Adds the Verge article, How can Foursquare personalize its users’ results without check-ins? CEO Crowley says check-ins just aren’t needed anymore. Over the years, Foursquare has compiled data on six billion check-ins and signals to help map out over 60 million places around the world!

There is a bonus however, if you use both apps. Your check-ins from Swarm will power the recommendations you see on Foursquare, according to the blog. The more interactions you have on Swarm, the more you will see better and helpful recommendations.

Swarm officially went live three weeks ago. It will be eventually be available on iOS, Android and for Windows Phone. Sign up at swarmapp.com for an email when it’s ready for your platform.