Dennis Crowley always knew he wanted to name his location-based check-in app ‘Foursquare.’ But the name was too expensive for the ITP alum when he started building the game in 2004–so he settled for a reference to another ball-based pastime of our youth: dodgeball. The name still has a nostalgic place in the hearts of members of the New York tech and media, but it no longer signifies a new front for social media.
This week, Mr. Crowley passed the Twitter handle on to another New Yorker, Chris D’Angelo, whose plan is to use it for his campaign to make dodgeball an Olympic sport. “I am by no means a techie. I’m just a guy who wants to throw red rubber balls at others guys and win medals on behalf of my country,” he told Betabeat by email.
“I want to make #dodgeball an #olympic sport. The reason its not already is because people can’t decide on one set of rules,” he explained on Twitter. “My hope is the website will act as a unifying body so all dodgerballers can get on the same page and we can legitimize dodgeball.”
There was no money exchanged in the transaction. “I noticed @dodgeball was sitting idle. So I asked@dens if I could have it. I explained my intentions and he graciously agreed,” Mr. D’Angelo said. His benefactor even gave the cause a retweet.
