Foursquare in Malaysia

As I have been using Foursquare for over a year now, there possibilities have been simply positive and yes, beneficial in many ways.

In this article, I will discuss a little more about Foursquare in Malaysia and how you can use it to your advantage. 

As it was developed as a Geo-Tagging Social Media Application initially for the Iphone and then Android and other systems, it was created to let friends know where you were and you could leave a message about the place or establishment you visited.

Points are awarded for “checking in” at venues. Users can choose to have their check-ins posted on their accounts on Facebook or Twitter letting your social network know where you are.

Next, it is also used for collection Foursquare Badges and Points while some businesses use it to promote their place with special discounts for showing badges or ‘mayorships’.

For those of you who still have no idea about this application, you should read this article on what is Foursquare.

Most of the users would be generally teenagers, young executives and even some of the professionals.

To be very honest, I have seen even housewives or elder people using it here in Kuala Lumpur. Try checking out some of the popular places like the busy malls or cafes, you will see a number of people checked-in there.

One of the reasons is also that these people are trying to get the Mayorship of the place. Example would be Mid Valley Megamall, a heavily contested check-in place for Foursquare Mayorship.

A general tip would be not to use Foursquare and tag your home. I have seen many using this to become the mayor of their home or room.

If you do so, then everyone will know where you stay and this does not go well with the ladies as you will most probably invite stalkers and so on.

As the app lets you connect with your Facebook, you may also want to screen who’s following you too.

Your details are also available to friends and followers if you allow it to be shown. Meaning your mobile number and so on. You can set this on the main FSQ web page under your account – privacy.

At times, I would update the Foursquare check-in with a picture of the place and add a tip or two in my check-in.

Yes, Foursquare lets you leave a tip on your check in so if something is fantastic about the place, you can leave it for others to find out about it.

Example would be if you checked in to a Boutique Hotel in Krabi, Thailand, and the place was really one-of-a-kind with exceptional service, you could simply leave a tip about this.

Your friends and followers would see it or in future, someone who is visiting the area would also see your tip. Apart from tips, you can also leave a picture of the place if you take it with your phone.

This works for generally anywhere especially restaurants, hotels, offices and even public places. Sometimes when I am out about town, I can use Foursquare to check the area for tips left by others.

Most of the time, I use it for restaurants to see the general feedback left. In a way, this helps the place get some form of exposure thus market branding.

Nowadays when I travel, I use my foursquare to check in at the various places leaving a tip of some sort.

This is indeed one of the future ways to get connected with social media apart from the normal everyday applications were are used to.

Then again, your smartphone would need to have a data internet service in order to use the app. You can also follow Malaysia Asia on FourSquare to see my check-ins and updates there. 

 
How to Unlock and get Foursquare Day Badge?

Simple, all you need to do is shout “Happy Foursquare Day” when checking in to a venue on the 4th of April every year.

 
Special Beer Foursquare Day Badge

To unlock this special badge, you must check-in with a location and share that location to your linked foursquare account from Untappd on Saturday, April 16th.

To get this special badge, you need to;

• Go to the Untappd main page and sign up (it’s free)
• After you sign up, go to the settings page
• Look at the center bottom and ‘Connect with Foursquare’
• Click ‘Allow’ and it will redirect you back to your setting page
• It should say ‘Foursquare Connected’ –  You’re done.

While we Malaysians are out of the main zone, there are still a number of Foursquare badges that can be obtained here in Malaysia.

You will need to check this Foursquare Badge Website for a list of the active badges which are updated regularly. I know most of you will be asking how to get some of the location specific badges and that my friends is the hard part.

If you check my Foursquare page, you will see that I have over 100 different badges collected over the last few years. Most of them were obtained during my travels around the world.

The link I gave you above is one of the most comprehensive lists for Foursquare ever done, and is a recommended resource.

The next big Foursquare Badge available in Malaysia would be the Foursquare Day Badge (16/4) which is only available on that particular day so stay tuned for that on Foursquare in Malaysia.