Think social media can’t get any more personalized? Think again. Thanks to the increased popularity of location-sharing, people not only know what you are doing at all times, but where you are doing it.

This location-sharing frenzy can most aptly be described as place-dropping, the casual insertion of a place for social status points. This isn’t simply about letting someone know where you are- that would be too simple. Place-dropping, like status updates, is about self-promoting a vision of yourself to others. It adds another element of intrigue that can be shared and discussed among those you connect with.

Facebook plans to introduce its own location-sharing feature during the f8 annual developer conference next month. In addition to users’ ability to share location information with friends, third-party developers will be able to use the Facebook API to tab into location-based services for their applications. Of the site’s more than 400 million users, about 50 percent of people log in at least once a day, and 100 million people log in from mobile devices. We’re willing to bet that they’re not in the same place each time.

Twitter recently jumped on the location-sharing bandwagon with the introduction of its Tweet With Your Location feature. Once you opt to use the feature, you can add location information to your Tweets in the form of direct location via coordinates or place via town or region.

Forget texting your dinner date to let them know you’re early; Foursquare is a mobile app that lets you “check-in” to a place upon arrival, which sends an alert to your friends to let them know where you are. The social network, which boasts more than 500,000 users and 1.6 million check-ins per week, recently announced its introduction of new features to give businesses more information about the customers who shop there. The new analytics tool will give businesses real-time data about Foursquare users- who checked in, what time they got there, and other customer statistics. It will also allow businesses to reinforce relationships by reaching out to customers out with rewards and promotions.

At Brand Networks, we highly encourage brands to take advantage of the viral nature of this “place-dropping.” Our Social PIX application was developed with that goal in mind. Social PIX is an event photography solution that uses Facebook Connect to upload photos to a Facebook Page’s photo album and a user’s News Feed for all of their friends to see in real time. Different than attendees doing their own place-dropping, Social PIX allows for customized brand messaging through fun frames and News feed stories. Check out how PUMA, Teen Vogue Haute Spot, and Progressive Auto Insurance have used Social PIX to reap the viral rewards of this place-dropping phenomenon.

(Posted by Natalee Ranii-Dropcho, Intern)