Foursquare adds three new tools for superusers

Over the past few days foursquare has been busy adding new tools for superusers to make cleaning the venue database an easier task. The three tools they’ve launched most recently are designed to help add in missing information and manage the queue of duplicates flagged from the foursquare apps.

Find Duplicates

When someone flags a venue as a duplicate in one of the mobile apps, foursquare attempts to match it automatically to the right nearby venue. Often, the automated matching fails, leaving it up to us humans to figure out which venue it’s really a duplicate of.

That’s where the new Find Duplicates queue comes in. It shows the venue that was reported along with a list of potential matches. A map shows the duplicate venue and the matches so you can see where they sit in relation to each other. Mousing over a duplicate in the list shows its check-in pattern overlaid on the map.

All the superuser has to do is check off the duplicates and hit submit. From there, they go into the regular duplicate queue for another superuser to actually merge. Like the other queues, there are options for skipping and resolving the report if there were no duplicates found.

This tool is easy to use, but the matching process is pretty slow and the queue started off with huge numbers. It’s going to take a lot of time for superusers to get this queue cleared up, but once they do, it should greatly reduce the numbers of duplicate venues.

Missing Address/Phone Number

As foursquare builds out to become more of a local search site, it’s important to have a complete listing of venue information instead of just the name and a latitude/longitude. These two new queues are designed to help superusers ferret out the venues missing either address or phone number and get those details filled in.

Both queues are very straightforward. Superusers just need to fill in the blanks.

Mislocated Venues

Along with the additions, one old queue has been removed: Mislocated Venues. It originally presented a list of venues that had been flagged as mislocated and allowed the superuser to properly align the pin. Foursquare is now able to determine where the pin should be placed based on the check-in pattern, so this tool was no longer needed.

What do you think of the new superuser tools?