The location-based check-in service Foursquare is crowing about its success, as the company said it grew 3,400 percent in 2010 and it now has more than 6 million users. But is the check-in service mainstream yet?
At this time last year, Foursquare was the darling of the tech press, especially at industry wankfests like SXSW, but the service has appeared to cool off even though it continues to grow at a strong rate. The company turned down acquisition offers from the likes of Yahoo and others in order to build a strong, independent business.
While Foursquare continues to grow, there aren’t many signs that it is hitting the mainstream. A recent study said that only 4% of U.S. adults have used these types of LBS services.
The company is trying to make its service more appealing by adding new features and deals. Foursquare recently added the ability to share photos when you check-in and it has even dabbled in location-based deals.
I still believe that Foursquare is going to eventually be thoroughly outpaced by Facebook Places because the world’s largest social network already has much larger base to work with. Sure, Facebook’s privacy issues would probably make some wary about using this for check-ins but I think the sheer size of the audience makes it the service to beat.
Think about movie trailers: it used to be these trailers would direct you to a website but nearly every modern movie trailer will now direct you to a Facebook page. The company has also introduced the ability to provide deals with Facebook Places and this could also be a major boost for the service.
It will be interesting to see what Foursquare does to remain relevant over the next few years. The company put together this interesting infographic about its growth over the last 12 months.
[Via Foursquare]