Are you for real?

For the last couple of weeks, if you ever ran into me, you  would notice that I am usually fidgeting with iPhIone.   Either I must be checking my email, tweeting or simply "four-squaring". Four-squaring?  What is four-squaring?  Well I just coined the term on this blog entry.   If you ever hear the word "four-square" then you can attribute it to this blog entry.  According to "moi", four-squaring is a term that references to a person who is advertising his or her existence on the foursquare mobile app.  Foursquare lets you tell the world that you are in a specific store.  If you use the app alot then you end up earning foursquare badges..  Sounds alot fun right?  Actually I thought I was advertising my shopping trends and my daily routine to the world.  Vendors are now offering special coupons via foursquare to visit their stores.  It sounds like alot fun for the user...BUZZ! You are wrong!  It's sounds like $$$ for the vendor since it is another marketing channel and another data point to consider in their marketing strategy.  In closing I would say,

• 4^2 = $$$$$ for the vendors
• 4^2 = no privacy for the user + meaningless badges.