My Name Is Karen, and I Am on Foursquare.

Like most of my friends, who are, in general, not terribly interested in the latest technological fads and social-networking shenanigans, I was not an immediate Foursquare convert. And, like most of my friends (at least those who even bother with Twitter), I was mostly just annoyed by all the check-ins and mayorship announcements cluttering up my Twitter feed. Do I want to track your every move as you spend your Saturday doing errands? Do I care that you have been to the local Red Lobster or Ladies' Workout Express more than anyone else on Foursquare? No. Why on earth would you even want me to know that?

But...thanks to one friend who is, unlike most of my friends, an early adopter and technophile, now I'm on Foursquare. And I love it. And, done right, it seems like pure marketing gold, at least when turned loose on suggestible types like me. In simple terms, it makes me want to go places more. All places, especially those I've been to before (so that, yes, I might someday be mayor), or those with Foursquare deals. I also admit that I like to scan the "who's here" list to see if I can identify other Foursquare players.

But because most of the people I go places with are not on the Foursquare bandwagon, and because I am old enough to believe that it's rude to whip out your mobile device while you're, say, at dinner with someone, I am actually a closet Foursquarer, checking in discretely when my companion is in the rest room or otherwise distracted. I confess that I have actually checked into a couple of venues when I was in the rest room myself, which really makes it feel dirty. My Foursquare behavior is ridiculously similar to that of a closet alcoholic secretly pulling sips of Jack Daniels from a flask in her purse. So yes, I'm keeping my Foursquare participation on the DL, but the good news for you is that in keeping with this you will not see updates on Twitter every time I check in somewhere or become the mayor of something. But just fyi, I'm the mayor of Villa Park (just the actual park, not the neighborhood), which I hope comes with some authority to get the kids to clean up after themselves a little better, and maybe to help referee the soccer games on the tennis courts.