The twitter for 2010?

Foursquare is a startup that aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and then reward people for doing so. They do this by combining a friend-finder and social city guide elements with game mechanics . Users earn points, win mayorships and unlock badges for trying new places and revisiting old favorites.

One of the appeals of the mobile application is the ability to leave tips about places that can be picked up by future visitors on the same location. Here’s a lot more information on the application that is heralded as the new Twitter.

“You’ll find that as your friends use foursquare to check-in, you’ll start learning more about the places they frequent. Not only is it a great way to meet up with nearby friends, but you’ll also start to learn about their favorite spots and the new places they discover.” via foursquare.