I stood in the House chamber today as Del. Adrienne Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, recognized the state and local dignitaries who came into town for the start of the General Assembly session. Jones had just been re-elected as House speaker pro tem, but she missed an even newer office holder in her rundown: me.
As I stood and listened to the introductions, I checked into the Maryland State House on Foursquare, a relatively-new, location-based social networking program. Basically, you install Foursquare on your phone, and let it find out where you are. Then it gives you a list of established locations where you can check in. If you visit one place more than anybody else (the network is still relatively small), you can become the mayor of that location.
And that is how I became the mayor of the Maryland State House. Now, journalists are not supposed to hold public office, but I hope my readers will make an exception here. The program is getting more popular, so we’ll see how long I can hold onto the title. I plan to be here every weekday for the entire 90-day legislative session. Can you take me out?
For now I’m looking at Foursquare as a fun application. Comment if you have any tips about how to use it for journalism.
-Andy Rosen
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