The mobile users behind geosocial and location-based services [Infographic]

Location-based services have become a surprisingly lucrative business over the past few years. In fact, more than a quarter of American adults are using mobile devices and social location tools to broadcast exactly where they are, when they’ve arrived at said location, and discover who else is around after getting there.

Geography-based social applications like Foursquare, for example, have managed to creep their way to success by making it easier for friends to discover where their peers are located, knowledge that many of us apparently find useful or interesting.

Taking information from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world, Flowtown has put together an exclusive infographic just for our readers illustrating who exactly is using geosocial and location-based services.

Some Highlights:

• 83% of American adults aged 18 and older own a cell phone.
• 58% of smartphone owners use a geosocial or location-based service.
• Most geosocial users are between the ages of 18 and 29.
• Facebook is the most-used geosocial network with 800 million users.
• Loopt is at 10th place in terms of most-used geosocial network with only 5 million users.