Foursquare Lists launch to group your locations

Not just about checking in, foursquare now wants to be your personal travel assistant

Foursquare announced Monday a new feature called Lists, which lets users build sets of places they’ve visited or want to visit in the future.

For those users who have already checked in numerous times, it will be a breeze to create lists, as foursquare will automatically suggest lists based on places you’ve been to. If you’ve tried a few different Italian restaurants in your city, for example, foursquare will suggest you make a list called “Top picks for Italian restaurants.”

Creating a list from scratch is also effortless. As you type in the names of places, foursquare will bring up the closest results (by name) as well as related places that might be relevant.

The really cool thing about lists, and what could make them most popular with users, is their potential for sharing and collaboration:

Just like everything we do at foursquare, Lists are all about sharing with your friends. Want to plan a trip to Paris? Create a blank list and share it with your friends who know the city best. They can load it up with all their best suggestions. Think your buddy will love your list of best food trucks in Los Angeles? It’s simple to share it with him. And, best of all: the lists are alive. If friends later add more places to a list you follow (like the Hipster Coffee Shop Explosion list), you’ll see everything they drop in.

You can tell foursquare wants lists to be big, since the company has brought on several brands, companies and other organizations as launch partners for the new feature.

There’s MTV with its “Hot Music Video Locations” list. And Wolfgang Puck’s “Guide to Las Vegas.” A few other launch partners that have already created lists are Lucky Magazine, Texas A&M, Alicia Keys, People Magazine, ASU and Bravo.

Since securing a new $50 million round in June, foursquare has kept a consistent stream of updates coming to its platform. Everything from the nationwide American Express partnership to the mobile notifications tray to a partnership with Groupon, the location service seems to be speeding along at just the right pace.