Posted on Wednesday, 31st March 2010 by Frank
This is a guest post by Nate Bonilla-Warford, OD
Right this moment, as I sit here at my kitchen computer with my wife and kids asleep upstairs, I am having the time of my life. Although I’ve been a blogger for years, have experience with lots of social networks, have read countless books and blogs, and been to conferences, I do not feel that I have ever really understood the almost limitless power of social media until the last few days.
Not too long ago, I had a neat idea. This, in and of itself, is no big thing. I have neat ideas all the time: funny puns, oxymoronic expressions, and largely impractical ways to get through the day. But this idea was different because it was extremely intuitive and timely and people wanted to be a part of it.
My idea, which I originally posted here, was simply this: celebrate social media (specifically foursquare) on April 16th. You see, April 16 is 4/16 and since 16 is four-squared, 4/16 is the perfect day to go out and check in with foursquare. So get together with your friends and hit up your favorite venues. Make a day of it. Have fun.
And certainly Tampa Bay and the rest of the world will have a good time on April 16th. But that is not what this post is about. Not really. It is about how quickly and how “awesomely” an idea can spread via social media, if the conditions are right. Exactly one week ago, I posted the Foursqare Day idea. Today, we have a giant group of people working together to make it a reality and communicating around the clock. We all have different skills and access to different tools, but steadily, day-by-day, we are growing the Foursquare Day idea into a world-wide movement. There are Foursquare Day events being planned not only in Cincinnati, and San Francisco but many places around the world including the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
The tools of social media have a powerful long reach. They allow us to explore other cultures, ideas, and concepts. But they also allow communities to connect from within. Foursquare Day started in Tampa Bay, and because nothing like this has happened anywhere before, we are excited. And we are proud of what we have accomplished in the last week. We have blogged, tweeted, and shot video like crazy. Why? Because we believe in what we are doing and we are having fun. And we are going to continue to do so, until the last person leaves the last swarm on April 16th.
Please go to http://4sqday.com for more info.
Nate Bonilla-Warford an optometrist from Tampa, FL specializing in children’s vision, and a social media aficionado. His blog is http://brighteyesnews.com.
Further reading:
10 Important Things About Being Social
DailyBooth – The Live Photo Version Of Twitter
FormSpring.me – A Game Changer In Social Networking
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Tags: foursquare, foursquare day, geo location, nate bonilla-warford, social media, Social Networks
Posted in Social Networks | Comments (9)
March 31st, 2010 at 10:19 am
Thanks Frank for letting me share some of my enthusiasm with your readers. I look forward to writing more for Social Tech Zone.
Have fun on Foursquare Day!
[Reply]
Frank Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Thank you Nathan for your very informative post. I really enjoyed it and your idea was brilliant. I am glad to see it take off on a very high note! I look forward as well to seeing you write more for Social Tech Zone.
[Reply]
March 31st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
[...] by Tampa’s own Dr. Nate Bonilla-Warford of Bright Eyes Family Vision Center. It’s been adopted and promoted all over the world – so let’s be proud and represent, [...]
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:03 am
[...] Foursquare Day – A Case Study In Awesomeness [...]
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:53 am
[...] I won’t use this space to explain the the background in detail. You can read the story as it evolved here, here, and here. [...]
April 13th, 2010 at 12:10 am
[...] During the earlier evolution of Foursquare Day, I wrote this post for Frank Angelone’s site, Social Tech Zone. I have since talked to him several times and [...]
April 16th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
We’re sorta excited for this. Some of us at the Ad Agency will be at the NYC Foursquare Day @ Roger Smith Hotel.
Check out our Foursquare Office day pic!
http://www.creativefeed.net/blog/happyfoursquareday/
[Reply]
Frank Reply:
April 18th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
It’s past Foursquare Day now, but just wanted to see if you enjoyed it. Great picture you sent me. That was really cool! What did you think of Foursquare Day? I actually did my first “check in” on Foursquare Day except I did it via Gowalla.
[Reply]
May 14th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
[...] Foursquare Day – A Case Study In Awesomeness [...]