Dukedom

On Yelp, there is a feature where you can check in places. This works much the same as in Foursquare - check in using your mobile app, get points for different kinds of restaurants, etc. You can even become the "duke" of restaurants - Yelp's version of Foursquare's mayor. There's just one problem - no one really does it. There's not much checking in going on at a lot of places, and as such, it's not too hard to become a Duke. The app does show you people checking in places, but it mostly uses facebook connectivity to show people checking in on facebook. Doesn't even seem relevant really. It seems like if you want to check in somewhere, foursquare or facebook are the places to do it. Since it's the day before my presentation, here's a question: Why are websites so obsessed with letting you "check in" places? Other presentations
will probably explain it, but I don't really get it. Seems kind of pointless. I do have friends who check in on different services a lot though.