Monday Rant: Not Worried About #IPADay Badge

The #IPADay Badge from Untappd's blog.

When I score a new beer variety pack from a local distributor, my first thoughts of excitement include that of "Yes! Now I can get four new, unique beer check-in's on Untappd!"

I've always seen the application as a great way to show others what you were drinking and an easy way to communicate your thoughts on said beers through your social media accounts.

Every so often, we see Untappd go down due to heavy traffic. The latest example of this was this past weekend for IPA Day. Obviously a lot of India Pale Ale fans were taking to Untappd on their smart phones to show off which beers of the style they were consuming.

If not just for that reason, then it was for the badge the application was giving to users that checked into IPA beers on that very date. Untappd extended the time limit to get said badge until the next day due to the fact the application was having problems throughout IPA Day.

I just don't get the point to having the badges. I checked into an IPA and didn't receive the badge, most likely due to the traffic problems, but I didn't make a big deal out of it. I checked into the beer and most everybody that was interested in seeing what I drink saw it.

I've seen people go crazy clamoring over badges on check-in applications such as Untappd and on others like Foursquare. I even saw a few Untappd check-in's on Twitter that said people were just doing it to get the badge. I'm not sure if they were drinking the beer just for the badge or if they just randomly checked into it for the badge, but when you look at it like that doesn't it make the badges somewhat pointless?

I enjoy using Untappd when I'm trying new beers and looking to see what others are drinking, but I don't adjust my drinking schedule in accordance with what badges I can get.