The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success, 3rd Edition

Common Terms

• Check-in/Checking In—When a user physically announces or shares his physical location to his friends and followers. This can be done upon arrival or departure.
• Badges—Digital rewards that are earned by users for checking in. These are unlocked by checking in to a variety of locations, doing activities, events (Super Bowl, 4sq Day, voting, etc.), days (Halloween, voting, New Years, etc.), frequenting locations, and unique check-ins (astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock unlocked the NASA Explorer badge for checking into Foursquare from the International Space Station).
• Points—Awarded for checking in. More points are awarded for different accomplishments, for example, checking in when “the mayor is in the house,” adding new locations, visiting a first (your first coffee shop, movie theater, club, etc.), or earning a badge.
• Rewards/Incentives—Awarded by participating businesses when a user interacts with the location through a check-in. These awards can be a discount on a purchase or a free product. These are awarded or unlocked for being the mayor, checking in so many times (frequent visitor), or simply for checking in.
• Geolocation—When a user’s real-world geographical location is tied to an object like a mobile phone. This service is accessed through the GPS in almost all smartphones.
• Shout-outs—Where the user shares what they are doing in the check-in.