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Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
by: Mother Teresa
My 22nd check in at the airport, my 12th at the gym and first time checking in at CVS. I sometimes think about it after I hit that green foursquare button, why do I check in?
There are clear benefits of sharing with friends in the moment where I am - especially in dense Foursquare user cities like New York, but what I’ve found to be increasingly more interesting is check in as history.
So as much fun as ‘I’m here now is’, I’m finding a lot more value in the where I’ve been and what I’ve done.
History is useful
A few months ago I lost my Drivers License in an airport (a place I often frequent) and was just barely able to talk my way through security with an old NYU ID. Hitting the road only a week later, I needed a replacement quick. Thankfully, North Carolina will mail you a duplicate of your existing license using an online form. The bad news, the form asked for the expiration date of the original ID and I never took the time to check. Thinking how to back-track to the date I remembered I checked into the NC DMV, mainly to complain about the line, when I was there. Eurkea! The Foursquare archives had the information I needed! After scrolling through all of my check in history, I found the date, did the math of (x years later) and ordered by new ID. Problem solved!
Check ins can be nostalgic
Thanks to the service 4sq&7yearsago I get to take a trip down check in memory lane daily. I saw my morning 'flashback’ email included a check in at dinner with my friends to celebrate the 6 year anniversary of our first beach trip. Seeing that immediately brought me back to that moment and all the fun we had. It prompted me to send an email to those friends to celebrate our 7 year anniversary and kick off planning another trip.
Endless data remixes
So as much fun as “I’m here now is”, I’m finding a lot more check in value in the “where I’ve been” and “what I’ve done”. Explore does a great job of using past data to 'understand’ me and I’m curious what Foursquare has next. In the meantime, I’m excited to build a site that utilizes check in history in a new, useful way.
Are there other services that do something new with past check ins? What do you want to see next?