First off, for business owners, the answer is yes.

At the very least all you have to do is add your business to Foursquare and your customers will advertise for you. For free.

What I don’t see businesses doing much is utilizing the specials feature. I live in Downtown Toronto and every time I open Foursquare there are dozens of businesses listed in my immediate area. Yet none of them ever use this feature. Think of the benefits, you don’t have to deep discount as with a daily deal, no commission, and your potential customer could be right outside your door.

Even businesses that do take advantage of Foursquare are doing poorly on the execution end. As Jennifer Leggio writes for ZDNet “My second-favorite pub, for instance, offered a mayor special yet every time I went in there, no one knew what I was talking about.”

Now we ask what every marketer should ask. What’s in it for me?

I started using Foursquare a few months ago just to see what it was all about. I have to admit it is addictive, such a simple use of game mechanics makes you want to rack up as many points as possible. Other than that, what am I getting out of it? Not much.

Do my Twitter followers care about the places I go in Toronto? I doubt it. Do I get any discounts or special incentives for advertising the places I check into? Nope. Has checking into Foursquare initiated some interesting conversation with other users at the same location? Not at all, in fact there are usually very few people if any at most of the places listed. Is it socially awkward to check-in when you’re with someone who doesn’t use Foursquare? For sure.

There has to be something though, why would everyone be using it?

I can see if you have a lot of friends on Foursquare that check-in to some great locations, then it could be a lot of fun. Other than that, it actually can be a great local search tool. Need to find a cool place for lunch? Just see what’s close by.

For now though, I don’t think I’ll be checking-in next time.

Vookmarking, or what I just decided to call Visual Bookmarking, can be a pretty handy creative tool.

Ever see a great design or image that you really want to save but have no idea what to do with it? Visual bookmarking allows you to save those little designy tidbits and arranges them for you in an easy to reference and attractive page.

There are a couple options out there. Image Spark looks great and has a few options for uploading your pics. There is a great browser plugin, a desktop app, and uploading direct to the site. Piccsy offers a slightly different layout and also has a browser plugin, but they’ve made their site more social. You can create a profile and comment on “piccs”.

These can be great for generating moodboards for projects or just keeping a bunch of cool stuff in one place. Another thing each site shares in common (which makes it difficult to use in work situations) is the occasional abundance of nudity. It would seem there are a lot of lonely male designers out there.

That being said, they can be great tools for keeping a handle on your sources of inspiration. If you’re interested you can check out what inspires me on Image Spark.

So yes, I’m on Google+.

No Ebay auctioned invite for me, I guess it’s about who you know -which is really the point to a social network.

Google+ is looking a bit empty at the moment (as you can see by my newly created profile). It’s just getting ramped up, and I guess if you know the right people, you probably will see a lot of activity in the coming weeks.

But Google+ is empty in another, better way. At the moment it lacks a lot of the distraction and bombardment that comes from Facebook. Maybe things will change over time, but I think they’re on the right track as far as design. As usual the Google user-interface is not as clear as other sites, but with a quick learning curve it won’t take long for it to catch on.

The real question is how this will affect the social space as a whole. Will Google+ take all the beleaguered Facebook weary people and gain significant market share, or will it fizzle out like other amazing Google products like Google Wave, Buzz and Health.

Google’s reason for shutting down Health? As creator Adam Bosworth said “It’s not social“.

As the entire world learns about the sad and embarrassing events that took place in Vancouver last night on the 15th of June, the immediate and multiplying effect of social media is made even more apparent. After the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of this year’s Stanley Cup finals the amiable crowd that filled the streets downtown turned on their own city. I’m not going to go into all the details as they’ve been all over every major paper and splashed across so many blogs. But while watching the media reverberations bounce around the internet this morning, and paying attention to each new image and video that surfaces, I couldn’t help but think of the ramifications of what was going on.

Posts on the open blog Vancouver 2011 Riot Criminal List piled up as people were outed through images and Facebook posts, their names becoming trending topics on Twitter. Imagine the next time these people apply for a job and their employer Googles their name or how many relationships have ended. How long will their internet past haunt them?

I’m not making judgements on whether or not they deserve it, but the question is whether this is a far worse punishment than the short jail sentence they’re likely to get?

Or… almost in the room with them. While it’s great to see each museum and browse through the artwork, there are basic usability problems that make it frustrating to use. These are the same features that make Street View, while useful, somewhat of a pain. Ever click in Street View and inexplicably end up blocks away from where you were, or mysteriously end up in an alley? Well it’s the same interface moving around small rooms in a museum.

Moving through a room constitutes choosing one of many directional arrows that move you to a slightly different vantage in the room. It’s a bit unnatural and a bit useless to use. It seems the best way to get around is by clicking directly on the wall you want to go to. However getting a good look at the painting you want is another challenge. Google seems to have floated their little [+] signs all over, but click one and it could easily take you to something else.

Despite it’s misgivings (like Street View) the Google Art Project is a great undertaking by Google. In each museum you can browse through the floorplan and jump from room to room, or simply click on each artwork individually in the right hand navigation. Giving people around the world an opportunity to see artwork they may never get to see in person.

Another little interesting addition is the ability to enter these museums right from the street.

I know it’s a bit late for Christmas but I just had to share this. Ad agency Rethink did some great work before the holidays in a day long marathon of live custom Christmas carols. Requests were taken via their website, songs were written, and backgrounds changed, and after they were done they were up on YouTube within minutes.

It was fantastic work all around and it was great seeing it all unfold.

Any plans for New Years Rethink?

Congratulations to flora&fauna for the much deserved press!

I helped out in my own way by photographing her illustrations and colour correcting them, so I’m also excited to see it in print.

The book is available for pre-order at Amazon, .ca .com or .co.uk, where ever you happen to be.

Congratulations Tiffany.

Go and check out flora&fauna‘s wonderful clothing as well.

A visit to the Vancouver Aquarium last weekend was a nice break from the everyday, and a chance to see some spectacular wildlife.

The jellyfish however were wonderful models, and a graphic designer’s living dream. Lines and shape and texture languidly floating through space.