Location-based social networking is experiencing a boom and now entering the lives of far more people than ever before… but what is it? The examples below are based on the current Foursquare model.

To put it simply the premise is that an individual 'checks-in' to a specific location, whether it be a business, restaurant, holiday destination etc. and collects points in doing so. Points are scored and badges unlocked dependant on the amount of times a location is visited. Users can post notes and advice based on each location. For example: 'Dave's Fish & Chips' would be your entry and your comment could be something along the lines of "Try the Steak and Potato pie, homemade and great tasting".

There are extra features including:

• • Location aware searches
• • Friend searches and connections

OK, so it's a game? Yes and No. It depends on what you wish to use it for. As a user I have absolutely no interest in the collecting of badges or playing a game. I want to use the application to give me real information that will assist me in a present situation. There are people who love the game aspect of the concept and spend a huge amount of time in becoming a 'mayor' of their local Tesco.

Examples of how a location-based social network can assist an individual rely on the quality of the data input. I have only ever posted twice within the Foursquare environment promoting a Chinese restaurant who serves Gluten-free food. To me this is an extremely useful piece of information that can be searched for within the application. There are currently too many people posting irrelevant entries for me to want to open up the application on a regular basis.

That said this form of social networking can be huge for businesses (but can be sabotaged). Starbuck's use Foursquare to generate custom by offering discounts based on check-ins to their outlets in the US. A number of other large companies have given away free products to the first 'X' amount of people to check-in  at specific locations. So for businesses it's a great marketing tool that generates leads for pretty much no outlay.

It will be interesting to see how the recently announced (and launched in the US) Facebook Places competes with Foursquare (currently you will be able to push check-ins from Foursquare to Facebook Places). One interesting addition is that by adding a business via Facebook Places a Facebook Page is automatically generated, allowing you to target people who like your business page.

I think for the time being, especially in the UK, location-based social networking is still a wait and see. It is extremely reliant on the quality of data and businesses jumping onboard. Possibly when Facebook Places hits the UK we will start to see a positive adoption of the technology, especially as businesses realise that amount of people they have at their Facebook doorstep.