Foursquare Day Success: 3 Million Check-ins Plus

I told myself I would stop.  I really did.  I told myself that there was really no reason to check-in on Foursquare to every bar and restaurant that I visited.  Nobody really cares where I am, right?  Well, even if that last part is true (and it may wall be), I haven’t stopped checking-in.  I am approaching 2000 check-ins and with every one I still hope to unlock a cool little badge.

Apparently, I am not alone.  Saturday was Foursquare day (4/16 – 4² = 16….get it?) and people all over were busying checking-in – ferociously.  According to a tweet from founder Dennis Crowley, over 3 million check-ins were recorded on Saturday alone.  That dwarfs the previous one day record of 275,000.  That’s over a 1000% increase.

This year wasn’t the first time that Foursquare day has been celebrated, but before it was definitely more widely recognized among a geek contingent.  This year, 14 different cities officially declared the holiday, including a very highly publicized declaration in Foursquare’s home base of NYC.

Minneapolis was another high profile declaration:

Last week, an article written by Goby CEO Mark Watkins got quite a bit of play.  In it, he projected the decline of the “check-in” as a singular strategy for a company and offered that companies that relied almost solely on check-ins would have to offer much more in ways of deals, recommendation and other services to stay alive.

In the article, he outlines basic reasons why he thinks people check-in; to help people remember things for instance.  He then explains why he thinks that isn’t something that is going to sustain long-term growth.  Another factor for him is the “game factor.”  As long as check-ins are a “game,” they will not have long-term sustainability.

Although the record totals for Foursquare day admittedly occurred on the company’s flagship day, they are nonetheless impressive.  Foursquare also recently announced it has topped the 8 million total user mark.  And with cities all over jumping on the wagon and officially declaring 4/16 Foursquare day, it looks like the buzz for this check-in driven company isn’t declining in the least.

Also of note, entertainment check-in app GetGlue just announced its own milestone.  The company just surpassed 1 million users.  At least for now, the forecast looks good for at least some of the check-in based companies.