How fast is foursquare growing

The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good. Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways. New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic system. Foursquare , the location-based service, might be most known for its check-ins. The dataset is especially valuable for Foursquare not only because it gives the company insight into what locations are popular and why, but also because the number of user-generated tips on the service is growing at such a fast clip.

To be fair, the comparison of tips and reviews is a bit apples and oranges, some might say. Tips are bite-sized pieces of content that users leave behind on Foursquare like breadcrumbs. But the big question for the rest of us is privacy.

Foursquare says it differs from data brokerages that buy and sell user data in a few ways. First, it's not actually selling user data to third parties; it's just using the data it collects to target ads or answer questions. Second, all of its data is anonymized. We don't even know your name. The trouble is, users might not know how that data is being used.

We're fairly used to the idea of seeing ads in a free app. But the idea of our location information from one app being used to power ads in another app is less familiar, and less easy to see.

Foursquare's use of third party data makes the privacy situation even murkier, since users of the original apps may not understand how their data is being used, either. That's the reality that every company that offers a free app has to face. Foursquare may finally have found a way to turn their users' activities into money. But keeping them around will mean convincing them they still have their best interests at heart.

Meanwhile, the company is paving a path for other niche social media companies by attempting to prove that attracting a billion users isn't the only way to build a fast growing business. Apps with a small but loyal following might just be able to create value that other companies are willing to pay for.

It might not be the sexiest business, but it might just make more sense than growth for its own sake. The Data Behind the Apps. When will Foursquare hit 10 million users? Twitter Tweet. Facebook Share. Stay Connected Join over , of your peers and receive our weekly newsletter which features the top trends, news and expert analysis to help keep you ahead of the curve.

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