Just when you thought the endless coverage of Foursquare was going to taper off, the company keeps popping up in the news.
What happened now? The company is running to the mainstream by adding celebrity accounts and teaming up with MTV and VH1 to promote the service with a whole new user demographic: people who watch MTV and VH1.
What is a celebrity account? It’s for people who want to have the option of sharing updates with their fans, or just their friends. If you are a celebrity, broadcasting your location via check-ins might not help with a sticky stalker problem. Or, it could help you boost your personal brand if you check in constantly at the hottest places in the city.
Just to outline how much of a demographic difference we are looking at, what is the first celebrity that has been signed up to use the new Foursquare accounts? Some over-tanned idiot from Jersey Shore. Never seen the show, I get too annoyed by the haircuts.
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But the deal with MTV and VH1 goes farther. Celebrities from The City, The Hills, and other shows will also be using celebrity mode Foursquare accounts. Expect and uptick in LA check-ins.
What does this mean for the company? They are shooting to be big; very, very big. Foursquare is not content to just rule the SXSWi crowd, they want to rule the world. Sure, they have 600,000 users, but celebrities have millions of fans.
Will it work? Or will it kill the services appeal to its core user base? Time will tell.
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