[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″]The other day I walked into a local institution and curiously asked if anyone knew “Liz M.” I had just checked in on Foursquare and noticed that she was the mayor.

No one did, but clearly the woman behind the counter had served her if she’d been around for a while. She is the mayor of said establishment on Foursquare, I told her.

“Foursquare? What’s a mayor?” was the reply I got. I was sadly dissappointed, but explained that it was a geolocation app on my phone. Blank stares.

But since this company does no local promotion and has little community interaction, I let it go.

But I’ve had the same experiences at major retailers such as JCPenney, so the incident isn’t reserved for small businesses.

The point? The woman who gave me the deer-in-the-headlights look is among the majority on this one, according to a new study by Forrester.

The study suggests that 7 in 10 people have never heard of Foursquare, Gowalla (which was recently bought by Facebook), SCVNGR or Loopt.

So what are these social mediums good for? Chiefly, deals for new and repeat customers. A local Radioshack deal offers $50 off an iPad 2. Saturday, I got $20 off a tree at Moser’s Greenhouse. What more incentive do companies, and the people who patronize them, need to discover these deals? Apparently a lot more, but they need to get on board because when I am offered a special, I don’t wait long to go get it.

Secondly, the tips are often worthy of exploring. I always check the tips when I check into a restaurant to see what others I know have eaten or recommended. If a resounding number of my peers have suggested I try a certain dish, such as the tenderloin (as one friend did recently when I checked in at Archies Wayside in LeMars, or the Guinness-battered bacon at McCarthy & Bailey’s) I’ll likely oblige. If they like, I’ll likely find the same pleasure.

So for you three in 10 geeks asking about random “mayors” and collecting “badges,” slow down and start educating the rest of the world. And then there will be a whole lot more competition for those mayorships. And that just makes the game more fun.

Read more about the study and geolocation apps here.[/vc_column][/vc_row]