Figures from the Pew Research Center show that social and location apps are being used by more than one quarter of US adults.

According to the study, 28 percent of mobile phone users use location-based directions and recommendations, while 5 percent use a “geosocial” service such as Foursquare or Gowalla to check-in at specific sites.  It also noted that 9 percent of internet users set social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to automatically include their location on posts, and these services are also often accessed by mobile apps.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, adoption of services is highest among smartphone users. It said that 55 percent of these users are accessing location-based services, while 12 percent are using check-in services. It was also noted that smartphone users in the 18 to 49 age group are more likely to use these services than their older counterparts, although there was “no significant differences” when it came to automatic location-tagging of social media posts.

Pew surveyed more than 2,000 adults during April and May 2011.