In its announcement of Explore for the Web, Foursquare says its mission is "adding an 'interesting' layer to the whole world, tailored just for you." Foursquare Explore draws on the check-ins, tips, lists and interests of your friends to put a layer of "interesting" - which is apparently a noun at Foursquare - on a map. This is a challenge to Google Places and Maps, which is racing to add "interesting", but Foursquare's 1.5 billion check-ins give it a strong position.

When Foursquare recommendations launched in March, our Marshall Kirkpatrick called it Foursquare's Google moment. It was a Facebook moment, too; both Google and Facebook are trying desperately to get users to check in to places, so they can monetize the recommendations to users' friends.

Unlike the big kids on the playground, though, Foursquare is a mobile-first company, and that's where all its data comes from. Today's launch of Explore on the Web brings that wealth of information back to the desktop (and tablet).

Mobile-First Makes Desktop-Best

Foursquare has earned 15 million users so far. That's no Facebook. That's not even a Google+. But all the Foursquare users are there to check in and recommend places. That's a strong signal for a service like Explore.

This isn't the first desktop Web feature Foursquare has added lately. In November, the whole Foursquare website got a makeover, setting the stage for today's additional recommendation layer. That month, Foursquare also launched a save-to-Foursquare button for websites, allowing users to save places to their Foursquare to-do lists.

Google's Foursquare Moment

Google has been hurriedly adding these kinds of features, too. It acquired Zagat for a reservoir of professional place recommendations, and it's added lots of gee-whiz visual stuff to its desktop Maps interface.

In November, as Foursquare made its key desktop moves, Google started to turn the screws on Yelp, highlighting Google Places recommendations on Google Maps. But this is a very basic interface. It's not much of a threat to Yelp, let alone Foursquare, whose place recommendations are much more detailed.

Your (Fun) Homework Assignment

Reading about the features isn't as fun as actually exploring, so try Foursquare's homework assignment.

At foursquare.com/explore:

• Find a place to go to lunch today that you've never been before (hint: look for the 'I haven't been to yet' checkbox).
• Search for a nice spot to try out tomorrow night (try searching "fun," "romantic," or "Friday").
• Pick a city you've been wanting to visit (Chicago? Paris? Rio?) and look at our personally-tailored top picks for you there, based on your check-ins from your hometown.

Now try the same at maps.google.com. How did the experiences compare? Let us know in the comments.

Among mobile-first social services, Foursquare is arguably the biggest right now, but the geolocation check-in app is on track to be surpassed soon, despite being a year older than Instagram and being available on every major mobile platform and having a highly functional Web-based UI.

As SocialFresh writer Jason Keath points out, Instagram also benefits from the fact that its core functionality - taking, sharing and viewing photographs - are things we've done since the advent of consumer photography. Sharing our precise physical location with a network of others is an activity that's not quite as firmly embedded in our lives already.

Instagram For Android: Still in the Pipeline

Instagram's most recent project was a significant overhaul to the app's underlying functionality that went live in September. The company has long promised that the two items next on their list are a Web interface and and Android app.

It's that application for Android, which CEO Kevin Systrom recently confirmed they're currently building, that stands to send the service's user adoption rate through the roof. As beloved as the iPhone is, iOS still makes up a smaller share of the market than Android, which has itself ballooned pretty quickly. If the current buzz around the iOS version carries over across platforms, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect Instagram's user base to double within a year or so.

The company's other top priority, a Web-based UI for the service, should also help attract users. Right now, people see Instagram shots posted to Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter all the time. When they click through, however, all they see is the photo itself, some basic information about the user who posted it and a link inviting them to download the iPhone app. For those who are unfamiliar with the service, there's very little detail about what Instagram is and why they should care about it. One way to get that idea across would be to offer the ability to explore more images from within the desktop browser.

Which brings me to my 2012 predictions for Facebook, e-commerce, location and social networks, the four areas I've been watching closely since I joined the rad team at ReadWriteWeb this past October. Come along to the next page!

In the context of the 2011 social network battle of 2011, Facebook lost in the Identity category (you can't use pseudonyms on Facebook). In the Sharing category, however, Facebook came out as the obvious winner.

At the f8 developers' conference this past September, Facebook announced the launch of new Timeline profiles, frictionless sharing, Spotify integration and its vision for Facebook's Open Graph platform. A few months after f8, Facebook hired the engineers and developers behind Gowalla. (As a result, Gowalla will shut down.)

What Will Happen In 2012? In short: A lot. Facebook is aggressively hiring and is expected to go public in 2012 with a ridiculously high $100 billion valuation. I predict that frictionless sharing will continue to ramp up, especially in the areas of news and video-sharing. With the expert Gowalla engineers and designers onboard, I can see Facebook tweaking its Timeline so it's better at actually telling stories rather than just presenting people with a ton of visual information. The news feed will probably become more customizable and personalized, giving users some of the control they demand. I think Facebook will converge its UIs into a single platform, and everything will be optimized for mobile. In fact, mobile will be Facebook's number one focus. The long-rumored Facebook phone will finally come out, but it will bomb. By the end of 2012, I predict that Facebook will hit the 1 billion user mark.

E-Commerce

In 2012, I predict that Groupon and LivingSocial will scale back on employees. Then it will increase the frequency and personalization of its deals. In fact, I predict that personalization and time-limited, location-based deals will be key for the future of daily deals.

Social networking-turned-flash sale sites like Fab.com will continue to grow.

The Facebook-EBay integration will be Facebook's last attempt at f-commerce before it finally gives up.

Digital customer loyalty programs like Belly will grow as merchants realize that they need a way to keep their customers coming back. In 2012, I predict that mobile commerce and couch commerce will explode.

Next page: What Will Happen To Location and Social Networks in 2012?

Location

Social Networks

I predict that Facebook, Google+ and Twitter will grow and thrive in 2012. Pinterest, a relative newcomer to the social network game (it actually bills itself as a social bookmarking site) will also keep expand. I also predict that we'll start seeing more visually focused, tablet-friendly user interfaces like Delicious'. People will increasingly access social networks from their mobile devices and tablets.

What do you think will happen in 2012? Do you agree or disagree with my predictions? Let me know in the comments below.

Engag.io, which gets its name from being the place for your online engagement input and output, is like an inbox for all your conversations on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Foursquare and blog comments. It's an inbox with analytics. It's built by the team behind content curation company Eqentia. Eqentia is ambitious but a little too complicated; Engag.io is very simple and the value of it will be immediately obvious to many people.

In order to get started with Engagio, you have to authenticate with different services you use around the web. Fortunately, this has become super easy to do and very secure with just a few clicks. The open authentication standards that have been developed over recent years make mashups like Engagio really easy to implement and that's awesome.

You can log in with your accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Google Plus, Disqus, Hacker News and Tumblr. Then Engagio will watch for comments posted to and from you on any of those services and give you one unified inbox to track the conversations inside of.

"We believe that having a universal Conversation Inbox could become a daily time saver," says the Engagio blog. "It will save you time because you don't have to check the multiple source sites where you have placed your comments. And you can for example focus on replies first, before you get to other commenting."

That's pure gold, right there - but a few days later I'd already forgotten who said it to me, where to find it, etc. Enter Engagio Comment Search and boom! All my problems are solved.

It's a great idea and I've been returning to the site daily to try and stay engaged with people who took the time to respond to me around the web. It's mostly Twitter conversations and some Google Plus threads in my experience, but I hope that Engagio will help me be all the more...in touch with conversations in other places too.

The analytics part of the service could really use some UI work, but the idea is that Engagio will show you who you're interacting with the most. You might be surprised who some of your top responders are - and those are people you should probably engage with all the more. Or at least know, if you're going to be as social as you might want to be in the social media.

The Engagio team could use someone to sit down with them and go through some real-life commenting experiences because I think the user flow could really be improved. Site founder William Mougayar is a commenting machine, he posts comments all the time everywhere, but I suspect his experiences are different from the way other people would want to use a service like this.

Super blogger and tech investor Fred Wilson, a man who gets more and more intelligent comments in response to his online activity than probably anyone else you'll ever meet, has been a cheerleader for Engag.io. Wilson says he urged Mougayar to "make it like gmail for social conversations." Gmail is deceptively simple though and Engagio will take more work to get close to that level of usefulness. As FAKE GRIMLOCK put it, "IS MVP. UGLY OK FOR NOW." A minimum viable product it is, but one that I think many people will want to see developed further.

That this is a tool designed to make the living social graph more transparent and sticky is exciting. I absolutely love the idea. Several users have pointed out that a mobile interface would suit real user behavior especially well and I agree with that.

A small number of people can jump in and kick the tires now, using the code "rwwengage" at Engag.io.

When It Comes To Apps, Geosocial Is Not Geolocation

The study also differentiates geosocial apps (LBSNs) from the broader picture of geolocation mobile apps, a category that includes apps for navigation, map viewing, local search and local daily deals. Geosocial apps are far more powerful because they provide information about location and the user's social graph.

Social networks do offer location features, but location is just baked in. A few examples include Facebook Places, Google+ check-ins, Twitter posts with locations, Apple's Find My Friends app and the nearly dead Google Latitude. Location, however, is not central to Facebook and Twitter in the way it is to Foursquare and SCVNGR.

Geosocial apps also let you share your location out to your social networks, but many prefer to keep location where it's best used - in the location-based social network. Says Loopt: "There is a level of privacy people enjoy on geosocial apps."

Who Is Actually Using Geolocation Apps?

Forrester finds that people using geolocation apps are influential, connected and young.
Three-fourths of geolocation app users range from ages 23 to 45. Forty-three percent are Gen Y (ages 23-31) and 18% are Gen Z (ages 18-22). Gen X users are using geolocation apps less this year; in 2010, 42% said they used them versus only 32% this year. Not surprisingly, only 1% of seniors ages 67 and older used geolocation apps in 2011.

There is some good news for marketers. Geosocial apps are edging closer to mainstream American demographics. In 2010, users were only 22% female, and the average user's household income was $105,000. This year 37% of geosocial app users are female, and the average user's household income has dropped to $92,000.

In June, Foursquare boasted more than 10 million users, which suggests that these last five million joined over just the past six months. Find out what caused this rapid growth after the jump.

A month later, Foursquare made its brand pages DIY, allowing anyone to sign up for a brand page and push tips and check-ins to followers on Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter. The only thing a user needs to get started? A Twitter account. By simplifying the process, Foursquare lowered the barrier for entry and upped the number of brands interested in using the platform for promotional purposes.

Klout began factoring Foursquare data into social influence ranking, marking its first step into utilizing location-specific data. Despite what many say about the oft-controversial Klout, it is still recognized as an important scoring model for social media influence. Integrating Foursquare into its PeopleRank algorithm strengthened Foursquare's brand and gave social media users yet another reason to sign up for the location-based service.

Foursquare tips lists, which also launched in August, helped users become trusted tour-guides for niche interests, further broadening the way users could build influence and trust on Foursquare. A few days later, Foursquare added movies, music and sports to its check-in options. As the push toward real-time became clear, Foursquare integrated Radar, a feature that sends users notifications when they're close to a place on their to-do lists or any other Foursquare lists they follow. This feature also notifies users if their friends are getting together nearby. Most recently, Foursquare announced its "Save to Foursquare" button. With it, users can save places they read about online straight to their Foursquare to-do list.

Foursquare's user location data is its biggest asset. As the number of Foursquare users continues growing, and with Gowalla shutting down to join Facebook, the location-based space increasingly belongs to Foursquare. How will it innovate next?

The button will appear alongside location-related content on sites that have structured metadata using Facebook's OpenGraph and hCard formats. Publications such as New York Magazine, Time Out Boston, Time Out New York, Time Out Chicago and CBS have already started using this new Foursquare feature.

Of course, mainstream adoption of NFC is at least a few years away, but owners of Symbian-powered phones can get started thanks to a new update to the Foursquare app for the platform.

Signs like this not only enable people to check-in with less effort, but can also provide a visual, real-world call to action. For non-power users of location services like Foursquare, it can be pretty easy to simply forget to check in to a restaurant or other local business. Having that sign hanging there can provide a mental trigger. Business owners can also use the opportunity to push promotions and deals, offering discounts or free products to the mayor or anybody else that checks in.

Admittedly, the average person has no idea what NFC is right now. But it's almost universally predicted to reach mainstream adoption within a few years, quite possibly replacing our wallets and keys at some point in the future. NFC is already included on a number of Android-powered handsets and is rumored to be coming to the iPhone 5 next year.

Are you excited about the prospect of checking in by waving your phone, or do you think this propels laziness to new and unprecedented heights? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

There are no plans for releasing a similar app Gowalla, which feels increasingly game-ier.

This app gives users even more incentive for using Foursquare, which recently updated its website to better personalize places nearby.

Meanwhile, the infographic from Foursquare shows that the top 25 retailers on Black Friday last year were Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Toys R Us and Macy's, respectively.

Target, Toys R Us, Best Buy and Walmart are all offering Black Friday deals online one day early, too.

The first thing one notices upon logging into the new Foursquare website is a map that spans the width of the page. If you've allowed your browser to do so, the map will show where you are on the map and display a number of nearby establishments. This isn't just a stale "You are here" mall directory-style map of your neighborhood. The local businesses it shows you have some real intelligence behind them.

The site factors in things like where my friends have been and what venues are popular are Foursquare generally. It even shows my friends plotted on the map, their avatars popping up where ever they last checked in. Zoom and out and see the whole city or two, with more pins showing more recommendations. Keep zooming. You can see the entire country with your friends plotted across it. Keep zooming. Yes, you can even get a global view of your Foursquare network.

If you're planning on visiting another city, you can zoom into it on the map and get similar local recommendations and see which businesses friends of yours have visited there. It's somewhat reminiscent of Plan My Next Trip, the Web app that won first place in this year's Foursquare Hackathon.

More Than Just Location Data

The data being used here is not only location-sensitive, it's also time-sensitive. If I log in at 5:30pm, it shows me some good places to get dinner nearby. Again, it's factoring in my own user data, my friends' tastes and what local Foursquare users more broadly are into. It knows, for example, that I have a tendency to check into cafes and diners, so it shows me those kinds of businesses first.

Having surpassed one billion check-ins, Foursquare is now sitting on a ton of valuable and insightful user data. What better way to display this primarily location-based data than on a giant map? Factor in one's social connections and aggregate user behavior, and you've got yourself one handy guide to your own neighborhood.

The new layout also gives new prominence to lists created by friends and brands. The site's main news feed contains more detail about friends' individual check-ins, including larger photos, if they're posted.

The new site was coded with more than just desktop browsers in mind. Thanks to the team's HTML5 wizardry (and avoidance of Flash), the new layout and features work great on the iPad as well.

What do you think about Foursquare's renewed focus on bigger screens? Let us know your thoughts about the new site in the comments.

If you're a pancake-lover who's subscribed to the list Pancakes Across America! and happens to be traveling the country in search of pancakes, you'll receive a real-time notification when you're near a pancake restaurant on this list.

You can create those lists yourself, or jump on to one of the pre-made Foursquare lists, like 101 Best Dishes of 2011 - they're all easily accesible from your Foursquare app.

The release of Radar comes on the heels of Foursquare's second hackathon, held at the end of September. Paris-based Web developer Benjamin Netter took home the top prize for his Web app Plan My Next Trip, which uses your Foursquare history to recommend things to do when visiting other cities. Radar follows-up on the very Foursquare fun-focused trend of helping consumers find new places to visit, particularly in densely-populated urban centers.

Image via Foursquare blog.

Taking the top prize is a handy little Web app called Plan My Next Trip, which uses your Foursquare history to recommend things to do when you visit other cities.

With Plan My Next Trip, all I need to do is authenticate my Foursquare account and then enter the name of the city or town I'm heading to. It will take my friendships and past check-ins into account and spit out a two-day itinerary for me. If friends of mine have been there, it will let me know. If they've left tips, I can read them. Venues that are currently popular on Foursquare will be noted as such.

The project comes from Benjamin Netter, a Web developer based in Paris. The day-to-day itinerary it builds starts with an ideal spot to get breakfast and then continues on to other venues throughout the day and evening, Netter told us. The schedule includes a mix of venue types, like food, drink, arts and public parks and tries to build a list of places to go that are relatively close together.

When I do a search for Washington, D.C., one of the recommendations is Chinatown Coffee Company. Foursquare knows I check into a coffee shop almost everyday. It also knows that my friend Jeff has checked into that cafe five times and my friend Daniel checked in once as well. Those guys don't even know each other.

The results can be a little mixed sometimes. As part of my theoretical trip to D.C., it recommends that I stop at Safeway. Depending on the scope and purpose of my trip, I may not need to go to a grocery store. It's okay, though, because at 10pm, Plan My Next Trip tells me to go "get drunk" at The Passenger, a popular bar that Jeff and Daniel have both been to several times. Sounds like a plan.

Be sure to view the video in full-screen mode for the full effect.

It's a great little change that will enable users to check in at home without exposing too much information. This new feature will also allow people whose homes were listed on Foursquare against their wishes to easily obscure their addresses. Respecting home/away privacy is a key part of making people feel safe enough to expose their location at all, anywhere. Foursquare's approach is reminiscent of the new private location geofences Flickr launched earlier this month.

I never turn location on when I'm Tweeting, for example, anywhere - because if I forget to turn it off it shows my exact address when I Tweet from home.

Why would anyone want to check in at their own home on a location-based social network? Perhaps because it's nice to let your friends know where you're at - even when you're nowhere in particular. It's nice to know when your friends are at home, perhaps after they've arrived from a trip far away. ("Welcome home!") Some people enjoy being the Foursquare Mayor of their homes, too.

I created a Foursquare Venue for my house last summer, but named it after my dogs and never checked in there. I created the venue so that the address was taken, as a placeholder. The idea of someone else creating a Venue titled "Marshall's house" was not a prospect I relished. Now it's nice to know that I can tell Foursquare the address, admit I own the place instead of my dogs, but not let the system share the exact address with anyone else.

While most people today will still say they don't understand why they would use Foursquare at all, this change will likely make some substantial number of people feel more comfortable on the network. It's just a good, human, considerate thing to do. It's hard not to think of and contrast this with Google's hard refusal to allow users of Plus to obscure their personal identities. Strategic blurring of focus is sometimes a very good thing to do.

Below, a video about Flusquare - an interesting mash-up between Foursquare and CDC flu reports. Foursquare integration lets the app determine where you went when you were contagious! This little app hints at the potential of consumer geolocation technologies for the future. Found via Geoposiciona, a very interesting Spanish-language blog about geolocation technologies.