I'm the Mayor of Gulf News, or at least I was as of Friday morning. I've already lost the title once but managed to get it back.

If you're wondering what I'm talking about, you probably don't play Foursquare, a smart phone apps that uses GPS positioning to let players "check in" at real world locations, such as their place of work, favourite coffee shop or even your buddy's apartment. Why would anyone play this game? Well, ego is one reason. Checking into a place earns you points, badges and anyone who checks in enough times at one place can become that location's Mayor. Competition is stiff. For over a week I've been fighting for the Mayor-ship of the DIC Metro station.

Another reason is that it's a good way to get information about restaurants and stores, similar to Yelp.com. Foursquare users can, and often do, leave comments about they place they've visited.

Please don't think anyone can built an app and a global database of locations simply so geeks can voice their opinions and fight over meaningless titles. The objective here is direct advertising. When I check in my local store, the store will let me know about any specials it's running. If I'm the mayor, maybe they slide me a little something extra on the side, like a coupon for 15 per cent off my next can of Red Bull.

That's the theory anyway. In practice, at least here in the UAE, no one that I've found has actually offered anything to anyone via Foursquare, which is why Facebook's announcement last week that it was joining the geo-location game bandwagon with its Places application (www.facebook.com/places) was, at least until I read more about it, intriguing. Very few people know about Foursquare — or Gowalla, its main competitor — but most people know about Facebook.

But despite the fact that Facebook could use Foursquares database of locations here in the UAE, Places is, for now, only available in the US.

Marketing potential

Normally, I'd complain about being left out in the cold by yet another web company that can't see beyond its own borders, but this time, I have to agree with Facebook. What's the point? As I said earlier, despite its marketing potential, no business that I've found in the UAE actually rewards its patrons for checking in at their location.

It isn't like the UAE doesn't have a fairly active Foursquare community. When I first discovered Foursquare in March, a hundred points — easily earned by a couple trips to the mall — would have put you on top of Dubai's weekly leaderboard. Now, a hundred points won't even get you in the Top 100.

Maybe it's time to let your favourite business know that you're checking in. Talk to cashiers and owners. Let them know you're out there and ask them why they're not on Foursquare. If they look confused, show them the application and let them see what you're written about them.

What's the worst that could happen? They could say no, but then again if they say yes, that Mayor title could actually mean something.

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