Mobile and Technology

USA Today has formed a new partnership with location-based smart phone application Foursquare.

Published: 07 Jan 2011

USA Today has formed a new partnership with location-based smart phone application Foursquare.

Foursquare is a mobile application that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. It is a friend-finder, a social city guide and a game that challenges users to experience new things, and rewards them for doing so.

From now on, USA Today’s Foursquare account will be loaded with more than 250 tips culled from the publication’s weekly “10 Great Places” feature, which taps local experts, authors and celebrities to create themed lists of the nation’s best points of interest.

Forrester Research studies show that only about four percent of U.S. smart phone users participate in location-based social networks such as Foursquare and Gowalla, and because the user and business base is still so small, targeted offers from local merchants and restaurants can be hit or miss, notes the Los Angeles Times.

But “as travel markets become more mobile-focused, I think you’ll see, especially in 2011, a lot of attention being given to these services,” Forrester travel analyst Henry Harteveldt told the Times. “Even though it’s a small percentage, it’s going to grow.”