Foursquare - Mapping Fethiye And Turkey

We love maps! What about you? Are you a person who can take them or leave them, or does something come over you when you get the chance to study a map? We fall into this second group of people and, more and more, the internet is feeding our map obsession. You see, the internet is increasingly location-based and, as internet and mobile users, we're all a big part of a huge mapping project - if we want to be, that is. Well, we do want to be and we're right in there.

We're on Foursquare - Are you?
Foursquare was one of the first location-based social media sites out there and we were pretty early to the party on this one. Well, there are locations involved. It ticked the map-obsession boxes for us. Whenever we go somewhere, we can 'check in' at that place and if nobody has previously checked in before us, we get to mark this place on the map - and oh yes, we make sure we get it spot on, zooming right in to pinpoint the exact location. Not everyone's favourite pastime but we'd like to bet there are others out there.

  Our Foursquare Homepage - it's all things Turkey

Follow Lists & Create Your Own
Of course, there's much more to Foursquare than that. We've created lists on there that people can follow and, if you know this blog, you'll not be surprised to know that the lists we've created are based around Fethiye and Istanbul - tips for day trips, sights to see, places to eat and drink. Whenever you check-in nearby, you will see the local tips we've added to our lists. And we can add to them or update them whenever we like. Click here to view all of our lists and follow them.

Become The Mayor

And we don't do this for everywhere we go, but sometimes we check in at places. Check in more times than others and you get to become 'mayor' of that place. All very childish but just a bit of fun. Barry used to be the mayor of nearly every place in Fethiye but Foursquare is now pretty big in Turkey (which makes it a really useful resource for visitors to the country) and he's since been ousted from most of his mayorship positions. In fact, he's not even the current mayor of Deep Blue Bar - proof that someone spends more time in that bar than we do! 



Benefits Of Foursquare

And, as with most of the social media sites, businesses are leveraging Foursquare to their advantage, meaning customers get benefits, too: A free beer if you become mayor. Buy one get one free if you check in and take a photo of yourself. Although it's got to be said, Fethiye is a bit slow off the mark with this one. But go to Istanbul or even Kaş, just down the road. Open up Foursquare, let your GPS locate you and the special offers will come up - great for budget travellers like us and the places have already been vetted by those who've been there before us. How do you find those places? Because they've been mapped by previous customers.


Meet Me At...

Have you ever travelled to an unfamiliar city and you need to meet up with friends at a particular place? This was one of the original premises behind Foursquare. If you follow each other on Foursquare, any of your friends can 'check in' when they arrive. That way, you know they're already there and you don't need to wander around like an idiot, looking for them. And how do you find this unfamiliar place? Yeahy, it's already there, on the map, flashing like a beacon for you. Your trusty GPS will guide you, so even if your map-following skills leave a lot to be desired, you'll know you're going the right way.



Mapping Turkey
The great thing for people travelling to Turkey is that the people here have really taken to Foursquare (and all the other social media outlets for that matter) with gusto; checking in, pinpointing places, leaving reviews, taking photos. The more that happens, the more the Foursquare Turkey map populates and the easier it becomes for all of us to find bars, restaurants and attractions that suit us. And of course, that means more special offers will (hopefully) come our way. 

Click this link to Follow us on Foursquare