THE BACK END

Friends Talk About Anything But the Present

If Foursquare wants to grow, it has to help us converse like adults who like each other. It could just give out lots of cheap swag, but like paying someone to keep you company, there’s no love in it. Few of these users stick around once cheap becomes too costly for you to maintain (witness Groupon merchants). Instead, appeal to stuff we already like to do in conversation, like making statements about anything other than the present.

Good Conversation is About the Past

A simple pop-up the next time we open the app—or a push notification half an hour later—asking how we enjoyed the last place we were could work. Whether a five star rating system or simple checklist of things we ate/did, friends want to let friends know what they did, not just where they did it.

Basically, I’m talking about a way to get people writing more Tips in a way that’s passive for the user, active for Foursqure. And let’s get To-Do Lists involved.

Good Conversation is about the Future

People also like to talk about what’s coming. The easiest way to do this would involve letting people declare their intentions while they surf. Imagine reading your favorite food blog and being able to add that new restaurant to your Foursquare To Do List or getting a notification when you check into the general area when that restaurant opens. Then you can check in when you swing by, and share your experience while you’re eating dessert (see above).**

Grown-ups Decide For Themselves

Some say that since most people just want to check in, the polite thing is to not bug them with anything else, ‘let them find it if they want it.’ I say, ‘Let them disable that feature if they don’t want it.’ Because sometimes the only way to get anyone to look deeper is to show them. And sometimes people don’t know what they want until have to choose what they don’t.

This is the conclusion to Tuesday’s blog post, found here

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**One added benefit: users might just be less-inclined to cheat and check into places they’ve never been knowing they’d have nothing to say about it when asked to weigh in.