I had a sad realization in the past few weeks…I’m slowly growing tired of twitter. It’s been four years since I became @chelbycat. It’ s been a great four years on twitter, but the shiny newness has worn off. Enter foursquare. I signed up for an account earlier this morning, and I’m already addicted. It’s fresh and exciting and intrinsically intuitive to those of us used to being on twitter.

foursquare is a location-based mobile social network that allows users to “check in” at their favorite hangouts–restaurants, bars, stores, etc. Using an app for your mobile phone or sms, foursquare determines your location and posts the check in to your profile as well as to twitter and facebook. Each time you check in, you can offer a tip: I’m @ Food Dudes – Thursday nights are the best dollar tacos in obx. It’s a little bit like Yelp meets twitter, in the sense that you are providing a tweet-sized review of an establishment. Once you’ve checked in, you can see who else is nearby. You can also use foursquare to see where your friends have checked in and keep track of places you’d like to visit.

Add to this the game aspect that each time you check in you earn points towards badges. I’ve earned my “Newbie” badge (so will you when you join and check in for the first time). If you check into a place more than anyone else, you become the Mayor (until someone else tops you). The gang at foursquare knows just how to stroke an early adopter’s ego!

I’ve only checked in twice now (work and Starbucks) and already I love it. I’ll post more as I get using and enjoying foursquare. For now, I’m already seeing tons of opportunity for marketing and public relations. I’ll be including foursquare my social media plans for clients. As the site explains, foursquare is a great way to run a customer loyalty program. By offering coupons and giveaways to your establishment’s Mayor, you encourage customers to check in and tell their friends what they like about your place. By encouraging customers to check in, you can get the equivalent of “word-of-mouth” exposure for your business. And, I can imagine as they monetize the site, there will be lots of room for advertising.

If you sign up, please friend me: foursquare.com/user/chelbycat