It’s clear to Foursquare that since they launched their app back in 2009, things have changed drastically. Chat, video calling and local search are in and Foursquare understands that they need to compensate for these changes. A newly reinvented Foursquare wants to be a part of that trend and that’s why they have announced that they are introducing a new app called Swarm.
Foursquare explained that, “we built Swarm because you’ve told us how often you still have to text your friends: ‘Where are you?’ and ‘What are you up to later?’ We wanted to build a quick way for you to know these two things for all of your friends. With Swarm, you can easily see which of your friends are out nearby, figure out who is up for grabbing a drink later, and share what you’re up to (faster and more easily than you can in Foursquare today).”
Swarm is not only an interesting new social trend but interesting for its business applications too. The benefit from a business perspective is Swarm will tell you when your clients, customers, parters or any other connections are in the area. It’s a great face-to-face networking tool, because with this knowledge you can message them updates, deals etc. through the app and potentially meet up with them spontaneously(assuming they also use Swarm). Swarm is now available on iOS and Android: https://www.swarmapp.com/
Now what about the existing Foursquare app?
The current Foursquare app is going to be revamped, with local search as its main focus. Foursquare believes that local search should be more personalized to users tastes and users should be informed by people they trust in regards to recommendations. They want their revamped app to answer questions like, “give me a great date dinner spot” and not just tell users where the closest restaurants are. They are currently putting the final touches on their revamped app, however it will not be released until late summer.
