The simple joy of a social network most people forgot about years ago
Hello again and welcome back to Fast Company ’s Plugged In . If you owned a smartphone a decade and an half ago and were into cool new apps, there’s a more-than-decent chance you tried one called Foursquare . The best known of a then-new breed of location-based social networks, it let you check into places you visited in the physical world, and see where your friends were checking in. One…
For more than a decade, Foursquare was a popular location-based social network that allowed users to check into physical places and see where their friends were checking in. The app featured gamified elements like badges and the "Mayor" title for favorite spots, making it feel more entertaining than utilitarian. However, in 2014, Foursquare rebranded its check-in feature as Swarm, stripping it of the brand recognition it had built up.
Despite Swarm's dwindling user base, Foursquare cofounder Dennis Crowley expressed frustration about the rebranding, which didn't involve any equity holders receiving money. Infillion, the ad tech company that acquired Foursquare, has not disclosed the terms of the acquisition but mentioned potential paths for the Swarm community, including open-source models and partnerships.
Swarm still has nearly 1,300 unanswered friend requests and has lost about 38% of its users each year since 2018. However, some long-time users have remained active, finding the app's simplicity and minimal content churn refreshing. Users like Owen Thomas, a Swarm power user with over 82,850 check-ins, continue to value the app's usefulness in logging their experiences and connecting with friends.
Swarm's low-key approach, devoid of flashy visuals and AI integration, provides a calming contrast to the often-content-saturated social media landscape.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
