Social media is not just for your computer anymore. As more people adopt mobile technology, social applications push further into the physical world.

Companies such as Foursquare and Gowalla have been offering location-based social applications for several years. Initial adoption rates were modest, but when Facebook launched its Places feature, more people began to take notice of location-based social media and Foursquare seems to be holding its own.

Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley believes that location-based services are still in their infancy. “Don’t worry about it,” he says. “We’re going to be here for a couple of years and come back to you when you’re ready for us.”

Companies are beginning to explore how to use location-based services such as Places and Foursquare for marketing campaigns. Ad agencies are generating ideas of how to combine the digital and physical worlds, says NPR, in a “new trend that is producing some of the most interesting and successful campaigns.”

In Israel, Coca-Cola launched an RFID-based event that enabled visitors to an amusement park to “like” various attractions on Facebook. The company also sponsored a wide-ranging social media campaign that took three 20-somethings to 206 countries in a search of happiness. The approach reportedly engaged billions of people.

Since everyone has to eat and drink, merging social innovations with this basic need makes sense. Establishments such as Buffalo Wild Wings are using location-based social media for promotions and contests. Bartab is a service that enables users to send real, not virtual, drinks to their friends through social networks. And Foodspotting enables users to take pictures of and rate dishes at restaurants and see what other people recommend.

As smartphones with cameras proliferate, photography is another big way that social media is merging into the physical world. Brands such as Starbucks and National Geographic are using photograph-sharing app Instagram, and NPR has taken advantage of its capabilities for photojournalism.

Another growing feature of mobile technology is augmented reality, and it’s pushing into social media as well. In 2009, social review site Yelp launched an augmented reality feature to its service that enabled iPhone users to see Yelp information overlaid on top of real-world visuals.

Finally, people are using social media to connect to real-life volunteering opportunities on sites such as Jumo and others.

The trend, in other words, is clear. Social media has broken free from the computer. Where will it strike next?