Social media site Mashable chronicled the beauty of the then-new Foursquare application at SXSW, explaining “Many of us have been anxiously awaiting a smarter Twitter that not only lets us update our status and connect with friends online, but also lets us find our Twitter friends — in real-life — when we’re in the same place at the same time. Wouldn’t that be genius?”

So Foursquare is another extension of humanity’s innate desire to invite the internet to be up in your shit. This is how it works:

Foursquare, which offers an iPhone app or mobile browser experience, works by letting you tell the app where you are and then lets your friends know where to find you. All you need to do is check-in via SMS (text to 50500) or mobile app.

Using the Foursquare iPhone app, you can automatically check-in and post shouts based on where you are and what you’re doing. You can also find your friends, search venues, earn badges, and add friends.

Of course, it’s not available in Raleigh. Rather than gripe about Raleigh/RTP being passed over for cities of similar size (Minneapolis?), I quickly became intrigued by another Mashable article detailing the “Mayor” feature of the application:

Mayorship is key. Should you check-in at the same location a few times, you’ll become the mayor of that spot, and though it sounds silly in theory, in practice it’s incredibly sticky. Being mayor is pretty nifty, and you might find yourself trying to actively maintain your power, which is good for your game stats, good for the business, and great for creating competition amongst friends.

The stats themselves are also quite interesting. On one level you’re competing against just your immediate circle of Foursquare friends, on another you’re competing against everyone in your city on a weekly basis.

This sounds perfect for Raleigh. Admit it, no self-respecting DTR socialite will be able to resist the chance of being king/queen of their drunk fiefdom(s). Imagine the possibilities: the Twitterati/NewRaleigh readers hyping up Foundation? Check. Fat blonde hairdressers battling to be “queen” of Jackpot? CHECK. The Borough?! Hell, the network might explode just from the weekly battles of Cup-a-Joe & Cafe Helios regs.

Can’t wait!