Move over, Twitter.
Out of the way, Facebook.
There's a new social networking sheriff in town.
Foursquare, a navigation-based cell phone application, is becoming one of the fastest growing avenues to connect with friends while being rewarded at the same time.
"Foursquare is all about get out and do things in the real world and be rewarded for them," Crowley said. "You're rewarded points for being of interest and going to new places and meeting new people."
The application uses the built-in GPS system of iPhones, Androids, Blackberrys and Palm Pres to track a person's location.
Once a person arrives at a certain location, he or she can "check in" to that location by finding it on a list of nearby places.
If the institution is not listed, it can be added to the list by the user.
Twitter and Facebook are incorporated into the application, as a person's location is broadcasted back out to the user's accounts to alert friends of his or her location.
Each "check in" results in the accumulation of points that go toward earning badges and being "mayor" of a specific place.
"Mayor" status is attained by checking in to a certain spot more than anybody else.
Coffee shops, parks, museums, bars and restaurants are just some of the places in which a person can "check in."
"You earn a lot of badges for doing a combination of things like going to multiple karaoke places and staying out real late or going to a lot of museums or coffee shops," said Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare.
Crowley said he came up with the idea of Foursquare in January 2009 as a way to reward people for exploring their towns and being social.
The application was launched in March 2009 and currently has more than one million users.
Crowley said having two versions of the application--an SMS version and a mobile web version--allows virtually every phone to use Foursquare.
Lizzy Robbins, junior in exercise science, got the application for her phone last week after hearing about it from friends.
"My roommates (and I), we all have it," Robbins said.
Robbins said while she still uses other social networking sites such as Facebook just as much as Foursquare, she constantly finds herself using her newest application with her friends.
"(We check in) every time we go to a different building so you get more points," Robbins said.
Robbins said she likes Foursquare because she can always know where her friends are, including people from other states.
"I told my friend in Tennessee to get it so she does it now," Robbins said. "I can see where she is."
Joshua Hillyer, professor in communication, became familiar with Foursquare through interaction with friends..
"I suppose Foursquare makes individuals strive for achievements through the repetition of tasks," Hillyer said. "Not unlike massive multiplayer games, which have certainly proven their popularity in recent years."
While Hillyer said social networking can be positive or negative depending on what a person makes of it, he considers himself a fan of social networking sites.
"I like using social networking sites to keep in touch with people I don't have the opportunity to see anymore," Hillyer said. "And to conduct quick opinion polls on things happening in the media."
Crowley said the application's popularity relates to people's desire to make their lives simple.
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