This article was published on May 28, 2010

Foursquare: The Bright Idea that “Just Didn’t Work Out”


Foursquare: The Bright Idea that “Just Didn’t Work Out”

… or so says Time Magazine in this puzzling piece profiling the “50 Worst Inventions.”

We’ll start this post by saying that there’s nothing wrong with being Old Media.  Some of our best friends are Old Media.  Old Media is just like the awesome kinds of media, except, well older (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

But WTF?  A 15 month year old service that is just now hitting its growth inflection point is a “bright idea that just didn’t work out?”

We mock what we don’t understand.  And at this point, Old Media, as represented by Time Magazine, doesn’t seem to understand that the element of location is changing everything.
Here are couple of gems from the piece:

“…When broadcasting your every thought via Facebook and Twitter isn’t enough, you have FourSquare, the next generation of creepy social networking…”

and then:

“…Just another tool tapping into a generation of narcissism…”

Perhaps this is a teachable moment for us in the industry around how Normals see geolocation.
Or maybe this is a fabulously executed, Calacanis-esque piece of linkbait.

Or maybe Time Magazine wanted to sponsor a badge, and Foursquare didn’t get back to them.

But I don’t think it’s any of these things.  I think it’s exactly what it seems – a company struggling with the new media rules lashing out at one that’s embracing them.

My bet is that we’ll see a feature story in Time Magazine about how Foursquare is changing society within 18 months.

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