Park Ridge DDS Checking In With Foursquare®, Places® and Gowalla®

You may or may not be familiar with the latest craze in social media….location-based social networking.  The forerunners in this fast growing fad are Foursquare®, Places® (a Facebook based application) and Gowalla®.  The concept is that when you arrive at a business or store, you use your mobile phone to “check-in” utilizing a pre-loaded application for the location-based social networking tool of choice.  You can have as many of these apps on your phone as you would like.  With Foursquare®, the check-in is more game-like in that there are “badges” that you can earn as you increase the number of your check-ins.  And to satisfy the competitive edge inherent in many of us, you can always aim to become the “Mayor” of a location.   And if becoming “Mayor” isn’t satisfying enough,  the thrill of “ousting” an existing “Mayor” is pretty compelling.  The point behind all of these location-based social networking tools is multi-layered.  The immediate payoff is that your friends can see and keep track of where your day takes you.  In theory, if you check into a location and one of your friends happens to see your check-in and they are nearby, the two of you can perhaps get together.  For businesses, each time you check in to a location, that business or retail location gets mentioned.  People will see that the coffee shop down the street seems to get a lot of check-ins so, maybe that coffee shop down the street might be worth trying out.  Location-based social networking is just one more tier in the ever growing social media concept of “word of mouth marketing”….if my friends X, Y and Z all seem to frequent the coffee shop down the street, that shop gains credibility.  Their frequent check-ins act as a word of mouth endorsement.  This is intuitive and genius.  I happen to be an avid user of Foursquare® and Places®.  And as a user, I find that checking in often initiates “conversation” online….a remark about what flavor ice cream a friend may recommend, a comment about a friend having just been to that coffee shop, etc.  This form of networking and marketing is not going away…it will only get more intricate.

In keeping with my love of social networking, Family Dental Care Park Ridge is thrilled to be a part of the location based social networking tool, Foursquare®.  Those of you already using Foursquare®, you can now “check-in” when you have an appointment at our office.  There are specials for those “check-ins” that become the “Mayor” of Family Dental Care Park Ridge.  And speaking of “Mayor”…congratulations go to Paul Saini….Paul is our first official “Mayor” and, as such, the Honorable Paul will receive a Crest White Strips Supreme Professional Strength teeth whitening kit.  If you are a location-based social networking user, remember to “check-in” each time you come to Family Dental Care Park Ridge.  Checking in is the only way that you can oust Paul as the Mayor and receive a similar special.  And admit it…you just KNOW you want to “oust” him.

Have fun with this new feature at Family Dental Care Park Ridge and keep an eye open for new Foursquare® specials.  If you haven’t yet downloaded the app for Foursquare® or Places® or Gowalla® on your phone, give it a try.  It’s fun and slightly addicting.

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