Welcome to the first Digital Diva Voices post and video. I’ll be reviewing mobile and web apps for your life and your work. My goal is to make technology more sensible, practical and manageable for you, and I love finding and sharing apps that help you in some way. 

Are you on @Foursquare? @WineSisterhood #DigitalDiva @AlizaSherman explains how to get started. http://bit.ly/SxV7IO [Tweet this]

Twice a month, I’ll tell you about an app that I use and love, and the basics of how to use it. Let’s start with Foursquare.

Foursquare is a “social mobile network” – an app that you download to your smartphone, and it lets you “check in” to places such as restaurants, cafes, museums, stores, offices, you name it. Why would you want to check in?

Checking in on Foursquare means you are notifying your connections or friends, fans and followers where you are and what you’re doing. You can limit how far your check-in is shared if you are concerned with safety issues of telling the world where you are at any given moment. Letting your friends know where you’re at can lead to opportunities to meet up.

Another nice thing about checking in is that it gives you an opportunity to give attention and kudos to the places you’re frequenting. At a restaurant and love the appetizers? Check in and leave that as a tip for future patrons. Found out about a sale at your favorite retailer? Check in and share the news with friends.

When you check in on Foursquare, you gain points for each check-in. You can also win badges for specific types of frequent check-ins such as the number of times you check in to a Mexican restaurant or a wine bar. Also, when you check in  numerous times to the same location, you can earn points and “compete” with your friends on the Foursquare leader board. You can also become “Mayor” of an establishment for going there often and checking in each time. 

If you own a business with a location, you can manage your Foursquare presence and monitor people’s check-ins. Business owners can pay attention to their top customers and even offer special perks for the “Mayor” of your establishment. 

If you’re throwing an event, you can also create a Foursquare check-in location and ask people to check-in and leave behind photos and comments about their experience.

Foursquare is only one of many location-based services (LBSs) where your smartphone makes note of where you are, and you make note of what you’re doing. I’ll explore more of these types of apps in the near future.

By the way, you can connect with the Wine Sisterhood on Foursquare!

Until next time, I’m Aliza Sherman, YOUR Digital Diva.

Find me here on Wine Sisterhood Voices as well as on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. You can also subscribe to my weekly Digital Diva Tech Tips.