Checking In To Events On Foursquare

For those who live in New York or pretty much anywhere that it snows, you may have heard the term “snowpocalypse.” Yesterday in New York we even had a “slushpocalypse” for a portion of the day. What you may not know is that you were able to check-in to both snowpocalypse and slushpocalypse on Foursquare. Yes that’s right, people are checking into events (even atmospheric ones) now.

I’ve already commented on checking in at your own home. I was initially against it, but I’ve tried it a few times and for the overall game aspect, I think it’s ok to do so. Yesterday when I saw snowpocalypse, I figured I should check-in and join everyone else who had to trudge to an office, wait for buses, shovel out their cars, or many of the other things that you have to do when you get a ridiculous amount of snow. I also checked in at slushpocalypse. Why? Because it’s rare that we get weather events like these in New York City and you can identify with everyone else dealing with it. At first I was hesitant to check in, but how many times can you check into something fun like this?

After checking in and thinking about it, I was thinking about what it might be like to check-in not only at locations, but at events. For something like a weather event, you don’t really have that many questions. What about specific events at specific venues though? Let’s say you’re at Yankee Stadium, should you be able to check-in to a Yankee game instead of or in addition to the venue? Dave Matthews is playing this summer at Citi-Field. Should you be able to check-in to “Dave Matthews at Citi-Field” instead of just Citi-Field? Let’s say the Mets offer a perk to the mayor of Citi-Field, should Mets game check-ins be weighted more than concert check-ins?

These are all interesting questions I hadn’t really thought about previously. Surely those who check-in to a Phish concert at Madison Square Garden would feel more of a bond to others who checked in to the same event over those who checked in to the venue for a hockey game. Event check-ins offer a lot of potential and opportunities. Think of how bands could reward fans who follow then on tour. Think of charity events, sporting events, and more. There are a lot of interesting possibilities.

So, what do you think about checking in to events? What do you think about checking in to something like snowpocalypse?