Starbucks is Saturating FourSquare
I’ve been experimenting with FourSquare this year and having fun discovering new businesses and making new friends with it.
I always got excited when I checked in somewhere and saw the little yellow banner saying ‘special nearby’. I’d click on that little banner with the feeling I just won something or anticipation that I might discover some hidden new gem.
I’m a big proponent for restaurants to jump on the social media bandwagon. In fact I advise restaurants to get involved on FourSquare and Twitter, to acknowledge their loyal customers who are shouting out to the world that they love & support their business.
But things are changing… Now that the big giant Starbucks is playing on FourSquare things have changed. Starbucks recently announced they will be offering mayor specials across the nation. This is all fine and dandy, but the effect it is having on me is that FourSquare feels saturated. Just about every single place I check in now says ‘special nearby’. Problem is every time I click on the little yellow ‘special nearby’ banner it now just says… Welcome to Starbucks. As mayor of this store enjoy $1 off a NEW however-you-want-it Frappuccino blended beverage. Any size, any flavor. Offer valid…
Here is my problem, I’m no longer clicking on the ‘special nearby’ banner because I don’t want to read about the Starbucks special (AGAIN) that I’m probably never going to earn anyway. The Starbucks specials on FourSquare are drowning out all the others. Besides some friends who actually were the mayor of Starbucks on FourSquare didntt have the best experience with it. You can read about their story here.
What do you think about the nationwide Starbuck’s special (for the mayor only) on FourSquare?
Photo Credit of FourSquare Starbucks Special from Mashable.
I’m annoyed by it for the same reason, but also that it’s just $1 and just for the mayor… now give it to anyone that checks in with a friend… that might make it worth it, but like you, there’s a freaking Starbucks nearby everywhere and I’m annoyed.
Sally, That is quite the annoying aspect I didn’t mention in my blog. 4Square was such a good idea, you just want to sit these guys down and get them to stop screwing it up. And I get the impression that all their meetings these days are about their scalability issues and not about the user experience. If they don’t start paying attention to the user, their scaling issue will resolve itself.