Laura Fitton’s ascent has been staggering: In less than a year, she’s become mayor of nine different places in several different states, all without giving any speeches or kissing any babies.

Instead, Fitton has gone out. A lot. And that’s allowed her to build an empire in the world of a rapidly growing World Wide Web startup called Foursquare, which rewards users with points and virtual “mayorships” for checking in on their cell phones when they’re out and about.

Foursquare is the brainchild of Dennis Crowley, 33, and Naveen Selvadurai, 27. The two friends decided to roll out their service after learning in January that Google was shutting down Dodgeball — a similar tool for connecting with friends through text messages. Crowley had started Dodgeball in 2000 and sold it to Google in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.

Released in March, Foursquare lets you share your whereabouts with friends, no matter whether you’re at a hot bar

or a neighborhood pet store. Once you’ve checked in somewhere — through Foursquare’s Web site or its applications for the iPhone or Android phones — your friends can see where you are and decide whether to meet up with you.

whether you want to check in on an iPhone, for example, you’d see a main tab showing your favorite and nearby businesses, and another tab showing where your friends have recently checked in. You can search for venues, leave tips for other users about things they might want to try at a bar or restaurant, or send a “shout” — a report that goes to all your friends.

Checking in is done on the honor system, so technically you can check in at dessert destination Serendipity 3 in Manhattan even whether you’re really sitting in an office in San Francisco.

There are plenty of applications that let you share your location…

Original post by dhiram