Foursquare moves beyond location, offers badges for real world actions
No doubt conscious that it has to offer its 3 million plus userbase something beyond mere check-ins following the debut of Facebook Places, Foursquare has revealed it is to reward users for real world actions.
At a very basic level, that means linking up with other apps that track your day-to-day activities the first being work-out monitor app RunKeeper, currently available on iPhone and Android.
Branching out from the check-in
The deal means Foursquare users will be able to earn badges on the app by executive specific workout challenges.
For example, running a marathon using RunKeeper will unlock the marathon badge on Foursquare, with the accolade showing up on both apps.
"We've long been fans of what Michael, Jason, and the rest of the RunKeeper team are doing to innovate in the fitness space and feel strongly that they're driven by the same ethos that motivates Foursquare: leveraging technology to help people live better, healthier, and more fulfilling lives," the firm says on its blog.
"To continue promoting this behaviour, we're going to develop more of these badges unlocked by real-world experiences with a handful of carefully selected partners, a few more of which will be announced soon."
New territory
Indeed, Foursquare goes on to pitch its new badge system at other third parties in the blogentry, the company stressing the importance of linking its app with every aspect of a user's life.
While it's not hard to imagine Foursquare and, indeed, the other apps that populate the genre would branched out from check-ins anyway, Facebook's role in shifting the LBS market should not be underestimated.
The social network's move into location appears to be forcing its rivals to broaden their set up, each app attempting to offer something Facebook doesn't.
As such, Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley has also confirmed the firm is looking to implement a recommendations engine, with users encouraged to break from the norm and visit new venues based on popular check-in locations in the local area.