Late last year, I was told all about Foursquare, and made a conscious decision as an online professional (and someone with far too much time on my hands) to fully embrace it. For those who aren't familiar, Foursquare is one of these "location based social media applications" - in short, it's all about telling everyone where you are at any given time of every day.
I was skeptical at first, and didn't often "check in" to every bar, restaurant or shop that I stopped into, but eventually I got into the competition side of things (you get more points the more places you check into, you get "badges" for certain types of activities, and if you're the person who's been to a place the most in the last 60 days you are crowned "mayor" of that location) and consistently racked up the most points every week among my friends.
The cons of this entire endeavor are too easy to list - it's a waste of time, it's distracting when you're "checking in" to a bar when your friend is trying to tell you about their latest heartbreak, it makes it easier for people to stalk you, and it makes it easier for people to rob you because they know when you're not home.
The pros are pretty much impossible to determine. Some establishments have decided to give a discount or occasional freebie to the person who holds the title of mayor, but I fail to see how saving 20 cents on a coffee makes it worth the cumulative hours one must spend each week checking into every bar, cafe and train station they go to. If nothing else, it only illuminated the ridiculously small number of venues and neighborhoods I go to on a regular basis:
And so, I woke up one morning last month and deleted my account and the app from my phone. Which I believe makes this the only bad habit I can remember giving up successfully at any time in my adult life.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a binge drinking session.
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