The location-based API will be released to Twitter clients like Tweetdeck and Seesmic first, which will use longitudinal and latitudinal data to plot tweets on the map.
Biz Stone, Twitter founder, ambiguously said the location data wouldn't be stored "for an extended period of time" on the company blog and the opt-in option would be on tweet-by-tweet basis.
Tweet-level location data would allow users to switch from reading the tweets of accounts they follow to reading tweets from anyone in the neighbourhood or city-whether follower or not.
Stone said: "It's easy to imagine how this might be interesting at an event like a concert or even something more dramatic like an earthquake" - but a more monetary scheme comes to mind - geotargeted advertising.
If Twitter can convince its users to opt-in and open up the data pool to developers, local advertisers could run wild with the platform.
Stone said "We're very excited about the potential of location metadata combined with Twitter" and with due cause - with location-based tweets, a whole new playing field of apps and clients is revealed, for advertisers and users.
Stone and Co. have repeatedly denied any sort of scheme to serve its users advertisements, but with Twitter-GPS, the company would be missing a huge opportunity - and would users even care?
For the past two months, Twitter growth has pretty much levelled off, according to comScore - implying that there's an established user base of about 25m Twitterers, give or take, who aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
As the location-based technology becomes more refined, Twitter could strike while the iron is hot - while users are too excited over the helpful apps to release marketers have finally flexed their twitchy Twitter-muscles.
Now if it could just work on its wobbly search function, at least until it can prove its worth by staying online for an extended period of time.
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