Foursquare Check-In Fatigue: I Just Don't Check-In Anymore

If you ask me, I think the foursquare check-in is dying.  It’s a slow death, but it’s happening.  There have over three billion check-ins on foursquare since the app launched in 2009, which is needless to say an impressive stat.  The problem is one that has been discussed for some time now: check-in fatigue.  Check-in fatigue is exactly what it sounds like, becoming tired of checking-in to places using foursquare and many people are starting to experience it.

I no longer check-in to places I visit frequently, even if foursquare notices I’m there and asks me if I want to check it (making it super easy to do so), and I rarely (if ever) find myself checking-in anywhere locally.  The only time I ever check-in somewhere is if it’s someplace I’m visiting that I really want to share with people or if I’m traveling and I’m at places I would never be at otherwise.  Oh, and I typically will check-in to conferences or events just to see who else is around.  But the main point is in every day life, the check-in is dead to me.

I used to check-in all the time to my favorite local mexican restaurant, which I visit frequently, but in the past few months I haven’t checked-in once.  That’s not to say I didn’t consider checking-in, I mean, I thought about it, I just never pulled out my phone and did it — I didn’t see the point.

Despite the check-in being a thing of the past, that doesn’t foursquare is dead in the water.  In fact, I think they are far from it.  Today, foursquare is releasing an update to its app on iOS, version 6.0.  The new update has some interesting changes that really make it appear foursquare is focusing a lot more on local search than anything else.

The Explore feature which is foursquare’s location search feature, is now accessible at the center of the app’s top navigation panel. This pushes the check-in button to the bottom of the screen, and completely takes over the space previously reserved for foursquare’s logo.  Additionally, the changes extend to the foursquare activity feed, which is now populated not just by your friends’ activity but also by trending locations, recommendations, and other local information.

The changes make it clear that foursquare is working on a pointing the ship in a new direction.  They want to be the first app you go to when you’re looking for a new place to try out, which brings me back to what I said earlier: I only check-in when I’m someplace new or different and want to a) share that with people and b) want to read what people have to say about the place.

Do you still use foursquare to check-in?  If not, how are you using foursquare?