14 DAY TRIAL // Foursquare may be looking at ways it can expand its product and make it more useful for people on the go. But the fact remains that what made Foursquare popular in the first place were the fun aspects of the service, the checkins and the badges.
The latest new feature from Foursquare focuses on that, there are now badges that level up. That may not seem too original or too groundbreaking, but there are ways Foursquare is going to use the new feature to improve the product.
"Over the next day our core 24 expertise badges will start leveling up the more you go out and explore," Foursquare announced.
"Take a look at the new Expertise section of your Trophy Case (click on 'Badges' to see yours) to see where you stand today," it said.
"In the near future, we’re going to add other ways to level up, like having your tips be done by many people. Your actions within foursquare should help you build a true, rich representation of your expertise about the things you love to do," it added.
To get a badge, you have to check in five times at the same place or in three unique places. To level up that badge, you have to visit five unique places and you get one level for every five more places you check into.
The idea is to get people to explore more and visit new places. Leveling up a badge is also a better indicator of your expertise in an area, the more places you've gone to the more you should know about them.
In fact, that's what Foursquare is banking on as it's going to use this more detailed data to provide better tips or recommendations for users, it's going to trust the 'experts' more than others who may not be as knowledgeable about a subject.