[Volscio]

I use Foursquare but I rarely check in while I'm at a place. Or even right after I'm there. I MIGHT check in before I get there, if I'm bored or am waiting. But I usually check in at the end of the night or next morning. I know this doesn't help me meet up with people who might happen to be in the area, but none of my friends in DC use Foursquare. More useful has been seeing my friends who leave Google Latitude on by default.

So basically I would hate it if they enforced stricter checkins, unless they could find a way to let bars, restaurants, etc. verify checkins through a quick scanner or something.

[WiseWeasel]

You mean because you're not really interested in using Foursquare, and you have no apparent business using the service in the first place, since none of your friends in the area use it? Is that the point you were trying to make?

[Volscio]

I use it to keep a record of places I've gone to. I would check in when I get to a place if it were easier for me to do so. But when I go to a place, I'm usually with friends or trying to find them and don't feel like typing a location into my phone.

That's why I use it. Are you happy with that? How do you use it? Or if you don't use it, how do you think people are supposed to use it?

[WiseWeasel]

I personally don't use it, as none of my friends use it. But my point is that since you don't really use it either, except to keep a record of the places you've gone to, instead of its common usage of meeting up with friends, you may not be the best reference for how the service should be working. I don't think the single-player version of Foursquare is very emphasized; it's more of a multi-player-only game.

[Volscio]

Just because your friends aren't on it doesn't mean it's "single-player", since you have visibility with other people who live in your city -- I have in fact met people solely because we friended each other or traded mayorships through Foursquare.

Also I'd question how many people use Foursquare to meet up with friends. Are you saying that friends meet up at locations not because they set it up via email or Facebook or Twitter beforehand, but because they were in a location randomly and saw a friend in a nearby location? What if they weren't invited?

I don't think you really understand how Foursquare is actually used.

[WiseWeasel]

I'm saying that you see when a couple friends check into a social meeting location, and say, hey, that location is near me, and seems like a good time, I think I'll check it out... Or maybe you ask yourself where everyone is on this Saturday evening, see that all your friends are checked into a local party spot, so you immediately know where the action is. I don't see using it as a way to make new contacts through leaderboards and achievements and such, but I'll admit I'm not all that interested in meeting new people through such a geeky venue. Might as well go all out and join a D&D club at that point.