Social media is all the buzz as people from all walks of life connect on Facebook and Twitter from home, work and even their cars. According to a new report from eMarketer, 43% of global internet users don’t bother browsing anymore. That’s a whopping 607.5 million people destined to access social networks from their mobile devices by the year 2013. Incredible!

One interesting new player on the mobile connection scene who is bringing mobile social networking to a whole new level is New York based Foursquare – an unique location-based mobile application that combines social media with real-time GPS and local merchant participation. If you haven’t heard about it yet, you will. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Foursquare is growing by 45 - 50% a MONTH! With 150,000 international users since March the word is spreading like wildfire.

Not only does Foursquare encourage you to tell your friends that the cheesecake at Randy’s is the best thing on the menu, it rewards you for it with point incentives, mobile coupons and badges. You can even become mayor of your neighbourhood bar for being the most loyal regular. This makes Foursquare loyalists want to become their favourite hotspot’s best friend. (Who doesn’t like a free drink?)

While a fun and up-to-the-minute social media tool for anyone and everyone who loves to stay connected, Foursquare is a great advertising tool for local merchants too. According to Forrester Research, “Mobile social users show greater responsiveness to ads on their cell phones, purchase mobile content and services at a greater rate, and access the mobile Internet much more often.” A mouthful, yes, but also very profound in the direction the future is taking when it comes to reaching a target audience.

On the other side of the coin, merchants had better make sure their food is fabulous, their service is outstanding and their toilets are clean. That same wildfire rapidity can have everyone around the globe in the loop about a rude server, cold fries or awkward parking facilities.

Good news travels fast. But bad news still travels faster in the realm of Social Media.