As more and more of us are playing Foursquare together, I figured it's probably about time to set some guidelines for when NOT to check-in. I appreciate that Foursquare doesn't really enforce much themselves -- I can check-in to a venue in Wyoming despite being in Minnesota -- so it's up to the community to develop some guidelines. After playing for over a month, here are the guidelines I recommend based on what I see as the spirit of the game: to earn points and badges by making your physical location known at venues where friends could join you to socialize.
When you should NOT check-in
- At work: It doesn't seem quite right if an employee becomes mayor of a venue because they have to be there, as opposed to a loyal customer who comes because he wants to be there. Customers will never be able to catch up. Foursquare needs change the game so we can check-in at work and make our location known without becoming mayor or earning points for it. (This one is debatable, though, because some would argue that having an employee as mayor means that you're more available to customers. I get that for a church, but probably not for a restaurant where you want to promote customer loyalty and return business.)
- At home: The spirit of Foursquare is to check-in so friends can find you and join you on your "nights out," not your "nights in." Your house is not a venue. It also creates a LONG list of venues local people need to sort through whenever they're nearby and looking for an actual venue. But again, I know some people want to be available at their home for others to come over and socialize, so again I think Foursquare needs to make a check-in for home that doesn't award points.
- At a drive-through or gas station: If you're just quickly passing through or driving by the venue, a check-in just doesn't seem right. Maybe you need to plan on being at the venue for at least 10-15 minutes if you're going to check-in?
- At a place you visited in the past: There have been times I tried to check-in at a venue, but was unable to because Foursquare was down. That doesn't mean I can check-in at that location after I leave and the Foursquare network is live again. If you're no longer at the venue or you're on your way out the door, it's too late to check-in.
When you should check-in
- When you're out in the town at a venue where you'll be for longer than 10 minutes.
Other:
Also, use the search function to look for your venue before creating a new spot. I'm finding that many people who create spots use phones with poor GPS units, meaning the venue is created and located inaccurately and is just not showing up on your phone because of it. Search first so Foursquare doesn't end up with lots of duplicate venues, each with it's own mayor and list of tips and check-ins. Then update the venue address and location info to correct it (available only to superusers, I think).
I'm still figuring out this game and may change my mind on some of these guidelines as time progresses, but this is what I'm thinking as of today.
What do you all think? Agree? Disagree? Others to add?
