Facebook and Foursquare have made some pretty significant updates in the past couple of days. Last night I tried them out.
Yesterday Facebook told me I could “star” friends. This lets Facebook know that I’m especially interested in seeing those people’s updates. It suggested friends to star, based on who I’ve interacted with the most lately. It also told me that friends won’t know I’ve “starred” them. So, okay, I went with it and starred about 10 people. Those people then went into my “Close Friends” group. I discovered that I got a notification any time a friend I starred updated their status, uploaded photos, etc. That’s pretty cool. I’m not on Facebook 24/7 and this way I don’t miss out on what my friends are doing.
Then there’s Foursquare, which has changed the way it works both on the website and on smartphone apps. Overall I like it except for a couple of minor things. You can “Like” your friends’ checkins, and you can see more of your friends’ checkins than in the past. I also see that you can “Like” venues. I’ll probably have “Liked” most of the bars Downtown within a week or two.
They’ve simplified the process of checking in, so you don’t have to go to the venue’s page to do it. I understand why they did it – fewer clicks, less time to check in. But there are a couple of drawbacks. First of all, if people don’t have to go to the Flying Saucer’s page or Blind Bear’s page to check in, they won’t see “Paul R. is the mayor.” I want my recognition dammit!
Another thing is, while it takes less effort to check in now, it takes more effort to pull up a venue’s page and see who is currently checked in. This is something I actually do a lot. The main rule that dictates where I go Downtown is, “I like good situations.” If I’m bored at the Saucer, I might pull up Bardog’s page on the Foursquare app. If I see that four of my friends are checked in there, I’ve found a good situation and am likely to go over. I can still access this information; it just takes longer in the revised app.
If you have Foursquare hooked up to Twitter, then tips you leave at venues will be tweeted now. That’s pretty cool. So if I leave a tip at the Peabody to wear a tube top to their rooftop parties, my ~1250 Twitter followers will see it.
Soccer news: The Brass Door will have all of the Euro 2012 games on its giant screen in the Cavern.
I’ll Have Another has been scratched from the Belmont Stakes tomorrow. That changes my attitude toward the race from “couldn’t care less” to “still couldn’t care less.”
Festival season is over and we’ve entered the dog days of summer, where not much is on the weekend calendar. If you want to hear live music tonight, Jeremy Stanfill and Pat Fusco at the Blind Bear wouldn’t be a bad call. I’m currently evaluating that and Max’s Sports Bar as possible best plans for tonight. Right now, it’s time to hit Publish and grab lunch.