Lately, I’ve started to become more and more obsessed with the thought of checking in (I’m a late adapter – and have liked my whereabouts to be semi-private). However, with Buckeye Interactive applying more focus on hosting events and workshops, I feel it’s necessary to talk about Foursquare‘s newest feature that allows users to check into events – not just places.
“It’s one of the most common checkins on Foursquare: you head off to a movie theater, check in, and type in ‘Harry Potter’ to tell people what you’re seeing. Or check in to a stadium and shout ‘Patriots game’ or ‘Lady Gaga concert,’” the company wrote in a blog post. “In moments like this, a place is often more than just a place; so today, we’re starting to pull major events into our database.”
Unlike Facebook, which launched its event-check-in feature in April, Foursquare is not a platform where people frequently input their own gatherings. So the company turned to its partners to provide the information about when and where events are happening. Preliminary events will include those in databases provided by ESPN, MovieTickets.com, and music site Songkick. Combined, these events will take place in more than 50,000 venues in the next few months.
I don’t see Buckeye’s events becoming as big as a Lady Gaga concert, but I do see this as an excellent way for people to virally spread attending. I am looking forward to having the ability to publicize our meetups and allow attendees to do more than just check-in to our location.
The feature is already live on the iPhone, and Foursquare says it will debut on other platforms soon!
