This will excite a lot of people who not only like to tell their Twitter followers what they’re doing, but where they’re doing it – the social networking site has launched a one-click-and-here-I-am function called Twitter Places, which comes with Foursquare and Gowalla integration.

Twitter Places is being rolled out over the coming week to users across 65 countries and Twitter has trumpeted the service via its blog.

All users need to do is opt-in via their account settings page and look out for an ‘Add your location’ button at the bottom of the Twitter box, enter their location –which can be general (like London) or specific (like Buckingham Palace).

It’s pretty intuitive stuff; although it’s sure to confuse some of the more cerebrally-challenged Twitter adherents, so Twitter has posted a Help section to explain the concept in the simplest of terms.

The timing of the launch time is no accident – coinciding as it does with the opening games of the World Cup. Already social networking chatter is being fuelled by the tournament, which is one of the top-trending topics. And, anecdotally at least, it appears it’s even getting Americans following the game.

Twitter Places has been launched today on Twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com and lets users tag their tweets with their location, while by clicking on a location on a tweet, users can see all the posts from that place. So, if someone’s tweeting from a stadium in South Africa, users can read all their observations and asides.

“Try it out during the next match – you will be able to see Tweets coming from the stadium,” says Twitter.

Twitter Places has a number of functions built into it – not least it integrates with Foursquare and Gowalla. It also supported by the main browsers – Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

Here’s what Twitter says:

1. * Foursquare and Gowalla integration: Many Foursquare and Gowalla users publish check-ins to Twitter. Location is a key component of these Tweets, so we worked closely with both companies to associate a Twitter Place with Tweets generated by these services. This means that if you click on a Twitter Place, such as “Ritual Roasters,” you will see standard Tweets and check-ins from Foursquare and Gowalla.
2. * API: We are releasing API functionality that lets developers integrate Twitter Places into their applications.
3. * Support for more browsers: Now, you can add location to your Tweets from any browser—Safari and Internet Explorer, in addition to Chrome or Firefox.

Twitter Places has been developed thanks to data partnerships with satnav manufacturer TomTom and Localeze, so the technology powering it is reliable. It will also soon be usable on people’s iPhones, BlackBerrys and Androids.

Once take-up has gathered momentum, then it’ll surely only be a matter of time before brands realise its targeting potential.

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