23 April 2010 | Author: J. Morton Search Copywriter

Social network Foursquare approaches 1m users

Social networking service Foursquare, a relative newcomer to the game and certainly to the United Kingdom, looks set to eminently crown its one millionth user, according to an official tweet from the internet start up.

Just over one year old, Foursquare has become popular with those living in large metropolises, especially those in the United States. The service tracks a user's movement via their mobile phones, recognising when a patron arrives, or 'checks in', to a local business or attraction.

Foursquare tracks a signed-up user's movements by utilising GPS in their phones and, if they visit certain establishments often enough, they can become 'mayors', meaning the individual with the most visits. In turn, businesses often offer rewards for such a title.

The website's run up to the one million user mark was tweeted 21 April, with the company stating "We're closing in on 1 million users! Current count is 969,775. Looks like that's we may have something to toast during Friday Happy Hour :)"

A more recent post revealed that the company has been receiving requests from 100 establishments each hour enquiring about Foursquare specials.

The service has only recently breached the UK, with London being the first city to become networked in October of 2009. Furthermore, brands such as Debenhams and Domino's Pizza have become the first major companies in the UK to target users of the service, according to Brand Republic.

Foursquare appears to have a simple and effective benefit for businesses, by offering a way to increase attendance to popular establishments by means of what is essentially a high-tech loyalty card.

On a related note, the Silicon Alley Insider has reported there has been sustained interest from Yahoo! in purchasing Foursquare, and blog author Nicholas Carlson also surmised that Facebook's non-release of its 'Foursquare killer' might have something to do with a prospective purchase.