Big East Conference Dominates Check-In Totals On Foursquare [Infographic]

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Big East ConferenceLocation based service Foursquare continues to attract millions of new users and none more so than in the Big East Conference. According to a recent report It’s not USC, Alabama or even Oregon leading social check-ins but rather Pittsburgh, a school not even ranked in the AP top 25.

Pittsburgh fans apparently checked in 921 times on Foursquare for the schools opening day loss to Youngstown State. At the game were 40,837 people which means more than 2% of Pittsburgh fans checked in before their team checked out.

In terms of top 25 teams Texas drew the most check-ins with 665 with attendance peaking over 101,000.

Why the Big East Conference is so heavily integrated with Foursquare is anyone’s guess. The check-in rate is likely due to the rate of adoption towards location based services in the area. As with any technology there is usually a “first adopter” mentality in certain geographical locations.  [Read more…]

Foursquare Check-Ins Now Integrated With Facebook Timeline Map

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Foursquare Facebook Timeline Map IntegrationFoursquare users checking in with Facebook permissions synced to their accounts will now find their check-ins plotted across their Facebook Timeline maps thanks to deeper integration announced by the location based service on Tuesday.

Until this point in time only Facebook check-ins and Instagram geo-tagging options were plotted on the Facebook Timeline maps.

Using the program means integrating your Foursquare account with Facebook and then simply checking in at which point your locations will be plotted on the Facebook Timeline map using standard pin placements.

Facebook and Foursquare have also made it so check-ins already map have been updated to mapped out pinned location markers.  [Read more…]

Foursquare Now Offering “Fast-Track” Verification For Business Pages

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FoursquareFoursquare wants to keep its location-based service fresh by offering the most up to date POI (points-of-interest) data possible and in an attempt to ensure those POI numbers keep rolling in the company on Wednesday announced a new verification process for businesses that makes it easier for them to hop on the company’s system and get verified.

In the past businesses would have to send a verification request to Foursquare using the US postal service, then wait around for their documentation to be verified, an odd request given the technology based nature of the company. Because of hand requested materials and use of the post office it would take three to four weeks simply to have a business verified.

Under the company’s new plan a company can simply pay a $10 processing fee and get verified immediately. The new verification system is currently only available in the United States.

[Read more…]

Foursquare Celebrates 20 Million Users, 2 Billion Check-Ins [Video]

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4SqDayWhile Foursquare has never quite had the hold on most social users daily routines as Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, it is the largest location based service in the world and on Monday the company celebrated that fact by announcing 20 million users and more than 2 billion check-ins.

The New York-based company held its 3rd annual 4sqDay on Monday (number four squared based on the date) and in honor of that day anyone who checked in anywhere received a 4sqDay badge.

Here is the concept behind the day as declared by Foursquare:

In 2010, foursquare fans declared April 16 4sqDay (4/4^2 – nerds after our own heart!). Two years and two billion check-ins later, you’re still why we get out of bed each day. Thanks to all 20 million of you for making us part of your lives. Happy 4sqDay!

The 20 million user mark is a huge jump from the company’s February numbers of just 15 million users and 1.5 billion check-ins. The increase in users was likely the result of the company’s announcement on March 16 that it had integrated with Facebook Timeline, making check-ins easier to share. [Read more…]

‘Girls Around Me’ App Shut Down After Foursquare Pulls API Access

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Girls Around Me AppFoursquare over the weekend revoked API right for “Girls Around Me” a social app that allowed visitors to find girls who were within their vicinity.

The app would use Foursquare and Facebook location information to determine the sex of a mobile user and then list any personal information that person made available which was overlaid on a map.

After the app was discovered by John Brownlee at Cult of Mac it went viral however critics soon worried that the app would be used by predators.

While none of the information that was pulled from the Foursquare API violated any terms of service the company chose to proactively remove the program in order to protect female Foursquare users. The issue of morally questionable content has been highlighted in various cases lately, most recently by Tumblr which chose to remove self-harm blogs from its platform.

Apple also apparently felt strongly about the “Girls Around Me” application, removing the program from the Apple App store just hours after the developer lost access to the Foursquare API, of course at that point the application was already useless since it couldn’t pull the location information needed to operate. [Read more…]