Foursquare may be everywhere now, but their badges certainly aren’t. In Foursquare’s rush to create sponsored badges, they’ve almost completely forgotten to add any of the fun badges users love that can be unlocked anywhere. The move could lead to a long term crisis in user engagement once users in “flyover country” get bored with the relatively few core badges that are available to them.
Outside the largest cities, foursquare’s penetration still isn’t that deep. Many users may not have real world friends who use foursquare and the tips for many venues are scant or nonexistent. Foursquare’s points are worthless and without many players in the game, mayorships can be trivially easy to earn. So, for many users badges are the primary reason to play the game. Once users have unlocked the 25 or so badges that are easily available everywhere, there is little else to play the game for. These users are likely to grow bored and give up on foursquare entirely.
Fifty new badges have been released since SXSW. Of those, only 28 can be unlocked outside of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. But half of those can only be unlocked in a small number of (mostly large) cities or at specific events, so we’re left with 14 new badges that can be unlocked anywhere in the US. With four of those badges, the thrill of hunting down specific places to check into is lost, however, since they only require a shout to unlock.
For international users it’s even worse. Including the four shout-based badges, eight can be unlocked outside the US. Two of those are only available in a single city or country.
Judging by the comments on the foursquare badge blogs, GetSatisfaction, and Twitter, users in flyover country are beginning to get frustrated with the scarcity of new badges available for everyone.
Fourquare shouldn’t stop adding the badges that are favors or gifts to friends or for certain geek events. Those are the great little touches that make foursquare interesting and unique. They should, however, focus on adding fun new badges like Photogenic, I’m on a Boat, or Bender that can be unlocked by anyone, anywhere just by checking into the right places.
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#1 by Michael Bauser on June 28, 2010 - 1:34 pm
I live in Flyover Country (Michigan), but I say “Screw Flyover Country.” Bunch of whiners who think lines on a map make them equally important as the cities they like to hate.
Foursquare badges are like Congressman — they’re assigned to where the people are. Compare the lists of the most populous cities in the U.S. and the most populous states. Thirty-nine different states have fewer residents than New York City. (Wyoming, as I’m fond of pointing out, has fewer residents than Detroit.)
It’s not a shock that cities get more badges. That’s where most of the activity is.
#2 by Charles on June 28, 2010 - 2:16 pm
Having badges in other countries would not only make it more fun for people living in those countries but also for people from the big cities travelling to those countries. Those people would then ‘stand out of their social crowd’ a bit because they travelled / discovered more of the world.
#3 by Ana on June 28, 2010 - 2:49 pm
I’m at that point in my city. I unlocked everything there is to unlock, and as a Super User 1, I added tags like socialite to places worthy of the name, thinking it would boost the Foursquare crowd, only to be told it was a NYC/SF thing only.
On Foursquare day, I organized an event for people to unlock the Swarm badge. Nobody showed up.
Because people think it’s a NYC game only. I’m not surprised by that. Foursquare need to realize that people outside NYC are playing. Many submitted badges ideas and yet, nothing has been done.
If they want to stay in the “What’s in” list, they better wake up and soon.
#4 by dens on June 28, 2010 - 4:26 pm
Agreed!
We actually just had a meeting about creating more badges that can be unlocked by anyone and everyone. Would love to hear your ideas!
- @dens
co-founder, foursquare
#5 by Chris Thompson on June 28, 2010 - 4:37 pm
That’s great news @dens!
#6 by Chaunce Dolan on June 28, 2010 - 6:28 pm
This is great news! I am excited to hear this. I completely agree that we need more badges that are open/dateless/non-venue specific.
I get emails regularly about new ideas and have a small but quickly growing community here in SoCal that are constantly hitting me up about new stuff with Foursquare.
#7 by Geoff on June 29, 2010 - 12:13 pm
Awesome!
Should we sue the normal badge suggestion link on the website, or post here? I sorta feel like the badge suggestion page is just a bottomless suggestion box that doesn’t get looked through often.
#8 by Jacinta on June 29, 2010 - 7:02 pm
dens
I am a bit disappointed with your comment – you have a link on your site that allows interested users to suggest badges and that link is referred to regularly on the Get Satisfaction site so I imagine that you and your organisation should have thousands of new badge ideas already available to you. Just get on with it by starting with the ideas you already have. Have they been catalogued? Are some regular themes emerging? Will you prioritise badges that have international application? Will you produce something that breathes a bit more interest back in the game for people like me?
Notwithstanding my rant above, please keep moving forward and good luck with it all.
#9 by Michael Bauser on July 6, 2010 - 7:17 pm
If Foursquare got a 1000 badge suggestions, it’s probably safe to assume 990 of them are dumb ideas.
The wisdom of the crowd is highly overrated!
#10 by Lola on July 1, 2010 - 6:03 pm
This could be common knowledge already, but I unlocked the TLC Summer badge in Baltimore, MD. I’m guessing it’s still limited regionally, but there’s broader access than your map suggests.
#11 by lauren on July 1, 2010 - 11:33 pm
I have a bone to pick with the creator of foursquare… Dennis is from Mass and I live in Boston but feel like Boston too is very limited on the number of badges that are available to foursquare users. Show some hometown love!
#12 by Gina on July 3, 2010 - 7:51 am
I live outside of the U.S.A. and it is hard to earn badges cause most of them are u.s.a specific. (eg. the gossip girl badge)
there are A LOT of foursquare users outside of the u.s.a and we want badges to unlock!
#13 by Ale on August 18, 2010 - 4:23 pm
I live in the midwest and most of my friends live around. There should be badges related to adding places (i.e., why not getting a badge once you add 10 places and those places got 10 check ins from different people?). I travel for work around the midwest, why not have different badges per region in the US (i.e., if you check in in all the states in the midwest you get the midwestern badge and so on)? Or maybe if you check in in 5 / 10 spots in a state you get the state badge, now you have 50 more to collect and then you become a US conoseur. What about national or state parks (check in a number of them)?
There are multiple things to do in each state, in order for the app to continue growing you need to be more flexible. I understand also that you may also want to have sponsored badges to keep bringing revenue, but you won’t grow in all the US if you keep focusing in a couple of cities only.
#14 by Ale on August 18, 2010 - 4:31 pm
PS, other than the spelling of “connoisseur” above (oops) the US traveler should be named the “I’ve been everywhere” badge in honor to Johnny Cash.
#15 by Michael Yoder on August 31, 2010 - 11:28 am
If you want to have mass adoption, then you need to cater to the masses. That means more badges that can be unlocked by the masses, not just people who live in the largest cities.
Come on, Foursquare, kick it into high gear. You’ve hired more staff, moved to a new location, and now have Facebook hot on your heels with Facebook Places. Now is the time to create and implement more badges for all of us.