Happy Foursquare Day – and in the words of one of my clients that is new to Twitter… what the f#@k is Foursquare? Since he is still trying to wrap his head around Twitter I left the explanation at this “ Foursquare is a location based social media platform that is great for service based industries” and told him I would explain it next time we were face to face.

To find out more about Foursquare you can check my posting “Can I Add My Couch as a Location on Foursquare” -  but for those of you who already understand and use the service I’d like to offer up my opinion.  I’d like to see the point system taken off completely. I know that Foursquare started as  a game for the users to get points and badges and mayorships but it has evolved into so much more. I think the false check ins and fake locations have diminished the current value.  Users are doing fake check ins and fake locations to accumulate points which gives you nothing more than bragging rights.  I make this statement as a guilty party. Although I only once did a drive by check in because I thought I was actually helping in doing so, I have added places to Foursqaure that aren’t really beneficial to Foursquare users (they are however, real locations).

In my opinion, Foursquare’s value is the fact that I can locate my friends when I check into a venue or find out what is around me. Better yet, when I check in at a restaurant I can get discounts on my food and get tips on what is good. I see so many future uses for Foursquare but the point system has to go so that it isn’t a competition for bragging rights, but an actual useful tool for businesses and their customers.