Foursquare Adds 5 More Languages

Sites include Foursquare.com . Published on September 6th, 2011. Written by Anthony West.

Nothing helps a website grow like making it accessible across language barriers, and this is exactly what Foursquare has realized. And in actuality, a location based social network like Foursquare, needs to have that dynamic, cross-boundary sort of setup.

In keeping with the push to ‘grow’, Foursquare has added 5 more languages to its on-the-go checking app. From now on, users fluent in Bahasa Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Thai, will be able to check in and update their location and activities. Users wishing to take advantage of these language additions will first need to update to the latest version of the app. Once that is done, it’s simply a matter of checking in consistent with the process used by all Foursquare users.

This new initiative at language expansion is in keeping with the vision of Foursquare CEO, Dennis Crowley, who announced that the popular app would be translated into several other languages. These languages included French, Italian, and German. So far the majority of the changes proposes by Mr Crowley have been implemented, and as more changes are made, Foursquare will grow even bigger.

Of course, the reason the app has been expanded to accommodate the 5 languages is based largely on the growth of Foursquare and social networking in these localized settings. The rest of the world seems to be catching up with the leading industrialized nations. In today’s climate, localization (adapting websites and apps to local languages) is a massive part of an overall growth strategy. Foursquare clearly understands this and should benefit immensely from their timely implementation.

Do you think adding more languages to Foursquare will help it grow into a social media force? Do share your thoughts with us in the comments below.