Foursquare

If you’re unfamiliar with the Foursquare mobile app, the basic mechanic is this: using your smartphone, you tell Foursquare where you are—this is called “checking in”—and Foursquare makes your location available to other users. As a reward for checking in, you are awarded points—somewhat capriciously, all told: between one and three just for showing up, a couple more if you’re with a friend who also checks in, a few more if the place to which you have checked in is “trending.” You might earn a virtual badge if your check-ins conform to certain patterns. (Been to five different Japanese restaurants? Congrats, the Bento Badge is yours.) Check in to a given venue enough and you might become its “mayor,” which may or may not afford you freebies or discounts.

The problem with checking in is that the novelty wears off pretty quickly, and the rewards feel increasingly arbitrary. So lots of users stop doing it—not out of principle, just simple neglect. Foursquare knows this, and has recently retooled its app away from check-ins and toward what is called, among people who make mobile apps, “discovery.” Looking to leave your house? Open Foursquare, tap on “explore,” and discover a brief list of nearby places a person like yourself might go. “There’s really cool stuff we can do with the data,” says Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley. “And I think reinventing the app gives us a new chance to tell that story.”

Depending on your feelings about serendipity, computers can be pretty good at recommending stuff. Amazon and Netflix, for example, follow your habits of consumption, check them against the habits of others, and make suggestions accordingly. Both of those services keep their counsel curt, however. “Recommended for You,” Amazon murmurs over a litany of titles. “Top 10 for [your name here],” chirps Netflix, indicating a wall of movie posters and offering no further commentary.

The retooled Foursquare eschews this tight-lipped approach in favor of something more unctuous, more verbose. Foursquare would like to talk you through your options in the manner of a hotel concierge. Looking for something to do in Brooklyn at five in the afternoon? “A lot of people talk about this place,” it hints, referring to a bowling alley. “Buy yourself something nice?” it asks coyly, as it points you in the direction of a thrift store. When Crowley talks about telling a story, these are the stories he is talking about: stories about...