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Harvard University today announced a collaboration with foursquare, creators of a new location-based, mobile social networking application. The service, which is accessible from smartphones and other mobile devices, enables students and visitors to explore the campus and surrounding neighborhoods while sharing information about their favorite places.

Harvard and foursquare | Harvard Gazette Online

david-noel: Go, guys! Go go go!

An observation, possibly interesting: consider that while the gameplay aspect did get some ink in the write up, community and exploration were the focus.

Sure, yeah, it’s press coming out of Harvard, they’re not going to lead with “Harvard University collaborating with these dudes who make this game that a bunch of drunken hipsters and geeks love.”*

Nevertheless, all the folks who are right now busily working on adding gameplay and badges and whatnot to their sites might do well to give some thought to the bigger picture that Harvard is checking out.

* And note that I’m included in one or more of those categories, so I’m really pleased to see Foursquare cruising forward. Despite the fact that they still haven’t added the API calls that I want.