Foursquare and identity: Checking-in and presenting the self through location

Abstract

Foursquare is a location-based social network (LBSN) that allows people to share their location with friends by 'checking-in' at a given place using their smartphone. The application can also access the location-based recommendations left by other users. Drawing on original qualitative research with a range of Foursquare users, the article sets out to examine this LBSN and its impact on identity in three ways. Using Schwartz and Halegoua's 'spatial self' as 'a theoretical framework encapsulating the process of online self-presentation based on the display of offline physical activities', the article first examines the extent to which users understand check-ins as mediating identity. Second, the article explores whether the act of using Foursquare beyond the sharing of location can similarly be seen as contributing to identity. Last, the article examines what effect location-based recommendations might be having on how users subsequently experience themselves.

Locative Media and Identity

“…This study is therefore in alignment with other research in the field that has made comparable observations (see Saker, 2016). This point is made by Mike:…”

“…Here, we conceptualize the use of Foursquare as a conscious indicator of a particular lifestyle where LBSN use (and the sharing of location as a choice on the part of the user) is indicative of a deliberate choice to integrate LBSN into both the performance of identity to others (Goffman, 1969;Saker, 2016) and self-identity. As Foursquare lets users accumulate an archive of their spatial movements, LBSN use acts as a memory aid (Saker & Evans, 2016) and as a way of contributing to and consolidating one's sense of identity.…”

“…"It positions the user within a network: not just as a member of an online community, but in relation to the network more generally" (de Souza e Silva & Gordon, 2011, p. 12). It is not simply the sharing of locational information that is effective regarding identity but also the constructed meanings attached to any given space (see Cramer et al, 2011;Guha & Birnholtz, 2013;Saker, 2016). The shared, mediated identity of the user is forged through the places users check-in to, just as space is itself constructed through social engagements (de Certeau, 1984;Lefebvre, 1974Lefebvre, /1991Soja, 1996).…”

“…While there have been some exceptions where the performative side of marking one's location through location-based applications such as Foursquare have been explored in the context of impression management (Cramer, Rost, & Holmquist, 2011;Evans, 2015;Guha & Birnholtz, 2013;Saker, 2016;Schwartz & Halegoua, 2014), several factors are noteworthy. First, these studies have frequently applied Goffman's (1969) division between "front stage" and "back stage" behaviors as it pertains to "performances" of the self (Saker, 2016;Schwartz & Halegoua, 2014). Second, the temporal character of this identity-based practice has not been fully examined.…”

Urban Influencers: An Analysis of Urban Identity in YouTube Content of Local Social Media Influencers in a Super-Diverse City

“…Previous research has investigated different ways in which place can play a role in the use of social media and relating identity construction, for instance through investigation of sharing locations on Four Square (Saker, 2017), and other location-based technologies (Schwartz and Halegoua, 2015). As Schwartz and Halegoua (2015) argue, the mentioning of location on social media can be seen as "parts of larger narratives and performances of embodiment and experience of place" (p. 1656).…”