Foursquare is experiencing record interest in the wake of the launch of Facebook Places; on Thursday, the location service broke its record for new user signups.

Facebook Places brings checkins and location broadcasting to Facebook’s massive 500 million user base. It’s the bread-and-butter of Foursquare , which has led to a lot of speculation over the future of Foursquare and the company’s next moves. Can it survive in the face of competition from a behemoth like Facebook?

At least for now, the answer seems to be yes. According to a tweet from Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, the company had its “biggest day ever” for signups of new users on Thursday. The surge in signups was probably due to the countless comparisons people are making between Facebook Places and Foursquare. With heightened media and user interest, it’s no wonder people are signing up to find out what this location thing is all about.

Record signups doesn’t mean the company’s in the clear, though. As the weeks and months pass and Places establishes itself as a service, we’ll get a better picture of whether Foursquare can fend off Facebook’s advances and continue its rapid growth.

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