Check in?

Check out?

Foursquare, the popular “check in” location based social network launched on March 11, 2009. Since then Foursquare has gained over 50 million users, and made several revisions to it’s original app.

I joined Foursquare on March 4, 2011. My 10th check in was two days later. Today, I have checked in a total of 4523 times… and counting. Foursquare has changed throughout this time, changed the way you play the game, changed the way you interact with friends, even changed the app through a total of seven major revisions.

I went about my business as usual this morning, and habitually pulled out my phone to check in. I pressed the big blue button and waited for my phone to tell me exactly where I was. Instead I was blocked by a pop-up.

My process was impeded. There was no way for me to check in! The app that I had used through seven major revisions, 4523 check ins, and even traveled the continent with had stopped working.

Swarm is Foursquare’s sister app, focused on discovery and “…is the fastest way to keep up and meet up with your friends.”

I read the description for the unavoidable app and knew it was not for me. Foursquare is my road-map and my highlighter, my travel journal and the pen I use to write in it. Disappointed, I downloaded Swarm.

I haven’t used Swarm yet. I don’t really want to.

I took to Twitter to see if I was alone in this, and to my surprise, I was not.

@Foursquare and @4sqsupport were bombarded with users asking why they weren’t able to check in, why they had to download Swarm, and why Foursquare was being killed.

These questions and comments have been answered somewhat robotically with two links: A note on the future of check-ins in Swarm and Foursquare and Mayorships and more: How Swarm is going to make your experiences more fun and playful

What holds for Foursquare is uncertain, but what is certain is the outrage. The constant tweets and blog posts, the seemingly arbitrary answers being spewed out. I can only hope, somewhat selfishly I may add, that someone at Foursquare Labs, Inc. is listening.