In its first report on the use of “geosocial” or location-based
services, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life
project finds that 4% of online adults use a service such as
Foursquare or Gowalla that allows them to share their location
with friends and to find others who are nearby. On any given
day, 1% of internet users are using these services. Location-
based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla use internet-
connected mobile devices’ geolocation capabilities to let users
notify others of their locations by “checking in” to that
location. Location-based services often run on stand-alone
software applications, or “apps,” on most major GPS-enabled
smartphones or other devices. Key findings include: - 7% of
adults who go online with their mobile phone use a location-
based service. - 8% of online adults ages 18-29 use location-
based services, significantly more than online adults in any
other age group. - 10% of online Hispanics use these services –
significantly more than online whites (3%) or o