I’m a big Foursquare user.  For those of you who “don’t get it” yet, see below:

Rule #1 about social marketing:

If you EVER hear yourself say, “I don’t get it” when referring to a social networking site, run to that site and become a super-user.

Do I really have to explain why?  Have you already forgotten Twitter?  What could you have accomplished if you had started using it back in early 2007?

So for the last 8 or 9 months, everyone has been saying that Foursquare is the next big thing, so I’ve been playing with it for the last 2 or 3 months (finally!  Yes, I’m a bit slow myself).

So…first off, I am going to tell you how to become a mayor.  Here it is: check in once a day at a venue and do it more than other people for at least 2 months.

It doesn’t help you to check in more than once a day.  It doesn’t help you to be the guy that checks in the most in a month; it appears that the person who has checked in more over the space of a couple months is given more power.

I’ve learned that a few times and have stolen the mayorship from many mayors by simply checking in places that a mayor hasn’t been in for a while.

I just lost one of my most prized mayorships yesterday.  I could have sworn that I had more check ins than this other girl, but now I show less than what I thought I had.  http://bethemayor.com/ will help you a bit with this.

I also wonder if there’s more to it than that simple algorithm.  I wonder if people with more friends or badges are given more “power”…or if you have shared a “tip” about a venue.  So I’m playing with that a little.

I bring this up because I have stolen the mayorship from some people before, only to have it stolen back the very next day.  If we have the same # of check-ins, how can this be?  I guess it’s just as simple as the other mayor having checked in over a period of more months than me….

You just need to check in consistently and never lose a day.  (I thought I had done just that with that mayorship I lost)

SO WHY IS THIS ALL IMPORTANT?

Well, who knows how big Foursquare will continue to get?  Who knows how important it will be to be a Mayor in the future?  Perhaps power-users will be granted some power in future Foursquare uses?  Is your own business in FS yet?  Some believe it will help your Google Local rankings.  I’m thinking about putting URLs in the Tips section of FS to see if it has any effect….

All in all, you never know how big it’ll get.  Jump on board sooner rather than later.