Foursquare Targets College Students with New Universities Program. Foursquare announced the rollout its Foursquare for Universities program Thursday afternoon, designed to help students, alumni and staff share information about classes, building hours, campus activities and traditions, and other information. Late nights at the library are now a little bit better thanks to the geosocial service, which will reward you in badges what you missed in sleep (depending on how much value you put on virtual badges, anyways). And if you start to see more compsci majors at the Homecoming football game this season, you can thank Foursquare's school spirit badge for that, too.
The startup has partnered with 20 universities for the launch, along with student ambassadors located at several dozen others. If your university isn't one of them, however, don't despair; Foursquare makes it easy for users to claim and build a university page on the service with a short questionnaire. Students can even request custom badges for their school. Partnerships for Universities. Dennis Crowley (dens) Foursquare extends location-based check-ins to college campuses. In an effort to extend its reach to college students, burgeoning location check-in service Foursquare announced its “Foursquare for Universities” program today.
The program looks to help students and staff connect with each other and explore their campus by offering its popular site-wide check-in, tips, and badges offering in a centralized, targeted way. The startup has partnered with 20 universities for its launch, out of which it is launching pages for Harvard, Stanford, and Syracuse today, with the rest likely to follow in the coming weeks. Representatives or eager students from universities not currently in the program can apply to join. Once equipped with a page, universities can have students “follow” their accounts, and use the page to broadcast messages and activities. The geolocation service already has somewhat of a reputation for its young, urban “hipster” demographic, and this is a sensible move to reach out to a broader, yet similarly poised audience. Foursquare makes it easier for colleges to join. Colleges are key to foursquare’s growth strategy.
They offer a captive audience of students who are already using their mobile phones heavily. By partnering with colleges to promote use of the service on campus, foursquare is able to gain users with a minimal investment. That’s why they’ve recently courted on-campus ambassadors and added a series of college-themed badges. Today they’ve launched a new Foursquare for Universities page describing the benefits to schools and added a form where colleges can apply to open their own branded profiles — and maybe even badges — on foursquare.
By joining the more than 20 universities with a branded profile, colleges can leave tips around campus that will be seen when their “followers” check in. For colleges, partnering with foursquare gives them an immediate connection with their students, alumni and guests. Colleges are also able to offer specials to reward their students. Explore your campus with foursquare! Harvard U. Foursquare Public Timeline | bit.ly | a simple URL shortener.