1. Adding Layers to Place:
A preliminary study of Foursquare
use (in Limerick)
Luigina Ciolfi
Interac>on Design Centre
University of Limerick

2. Foursquare
• Loca>on‐based social networking website/app
• Created in 2009
• As of June 2011, approx 10 million users
• Game, recommenda>on system, social media
marke>ng tool
• Me: interest in how physical places acquire a digital
layer. Regular Foursquare user. Since June 2011
monitoring certain loca>ons to gather informa>on on
what digital ac>vity becomes associated to certain
places. Looking predominantly at the Limerick Area

3. Individual vs. Place

4. Individual vs. Place

5. Individual vs. Place

6. Individual vs. Place

7. Individual vs. Place

8. Game vs. Peer informa>on sharing

9. Game vs. Peer informa>on sharing

10. Represent Ac>vi>es

11. Represent Presence

12. Represent the Loca>on

13. Advice

14. Ven>ng

15. Fun

16. Loca>ons
• Granularity

17. The Foursquare Limerick

18. Viewing Places from Afar
• Image of Limerick from, e.g. London, Dublin,
etc

19. A long way to go!

20. So what?
• Trying to understand what mo>vates people
to par>cipate
• Looking for examples of community
par>cipa>on
• Consolidate typology of use
• Connec>ng physical loca>ons to check‐ins