A new report says social location sites such as Foursquare, Loopt, MyTown, and Brighkite have yet to hit the big time.

Forrester has found that only four per cent of US adults have ever used these type of online services. Just one per cent of adults actively engage with these services more than once per week and 84 per cent of respondents said they are not familiar with such apps.

The applications work by adding a location element to traditional social networking tools.

Google recently announced that its Google Places function – which allows business owners to claim their business and customise their listing on Google Maps whilst also providing independent user reviews – will have its API opened to social location developers.

Google wants to focus on “check-ins”, a system where a user automatically notifies friends on a social network when they arrive at a listed venue such as a bar or restaurant. These type of services face need comprehensive data on places around the world – something that Google feels it can provide with its Places API.

But Google may be jumping the gun. According to Forrester, currently these tools are mainly used by young, geeky, over-educated men.