Yesterday’s update to the foursquare iPhone app included a lot of improvements, but it was also missing a feature found in previous versions: the stand-alone shout button. In foursquare’s blog post about the update, they explained the removal like this:

…with this release, we’re retiring the stand-alone shout button. Since foursquare is ultimately location-based, we decided that shouts should always be attached to a check-in. From now on, if you want to shout, just enter your text when you’re checking in someplace (millions of you do, every day). Though a bunch of us here at HQ were also bummed about the loss, we found it lays the groundwork for better things in the future.

A discussion has erupted on Twitter today around what I’m calling Shoutgate. It turns out a lot of users are upset about the removal of the shout button (which allowed users to post a sort of status update that wasn’t tied to a location or checkin).

Personally, I don’t think I ever used the stand-alone shout button inside the foursquare app to post a shout that wasn’t tied to a location on my personal account. The About Foursquare account is a different matter. I often use stand-alone shouts (via Tweetdeck) to announce new blog posts, figuring that foursquare users who follow About Foursquare would be interested in seeing news about foursquare within the service itself.

All those shouts could have been tied to a location (Tweetdeck has that capability built in), but it was simply easier to post them with no location attached. Starting yesterday, I began tying all About Foursquare shouts to a location, whether I’m physically there or not (like this one). I think this is an appropriate use of “jumping” for brands.

Dwayne Kilbourne is one user upset by the change. “I understand why but completely dislike it (unless foursquare is willing to up caps)… I like to post foursquare tips and some blog post links,” he said on Twitter.

For now, stand-alone shouts have only been removed from the iOS version of the app. Presumably they’ll be removed from the Android and Blackberry versions as those are updated with the latest changes. It’s unknown if support for them will be completely removed from the API. UPDATE: Foursquare head of product Alex Rainert confirms in the comments that they have no plans to remove stand-alone shout support from the API.

I, for one, won’t miss the stand-alone shouts. If foursquare thinks “it lays the groundwork for better things in the future,” then I have no problem with removing them from the app. Foursquare is, after all, a location-based network, so it makes sense that everything you do there should be tied to a physical location.

With that said, it’s time to turn it over to you. What do you think about this change?

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