• ReadWriteWeb, Monday, June 28, 2010 1:30 PM

What's driving the location-based social networking trend? Media hype? Technological advancements -- particularly in the mobile arena -- coupled with a fast evolving social media revolution? "It's emotional -- and it's different for different people," according to some preliminary research conducted by ReadWriteWeb. But, not entirely.

A Cambridge-based experimental tech CEO says she used such services "to spontaneously clump to co-work" with her peers in coffee shops. "The rest doesn't matter to me," she says. Meanwhile, "The stereotype of Foursquare users as youthful bar-hoppers is largely confirmed by the numbers," writes to ReadWriteWeb, citing data from the independent group BitsyBot Labs. The gaming element, which Foursquare is particularly well known for, does seem to motivate many users -- and potentially the masses. Most surprising to ReadWriteWeb was how many users rely on location-based service to track their own personal history. "It's a lazy diary, people say."

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