Jason Townsend, NASA's deputy social media manager, says NASA created the [Foursquare] badge because a lot of armchair astronomers were following along at home in the middle of the night when Curiosity landed on Mars.

"It really has this worldwide following. The landing was carried live in Times Square on landing night [in August] and there were literally thousands of people," Townsend says.

The video in Times Square aired thanks to a partnership with Toshiba. NASA also aired a New Year's greeting there - right beneath the infamous ball. The footage in Times Square is specifically for the Curiosity rover and will remain up "as long as we're able to," Townsend says.

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"We're always looking for new ways to connect to the public to get inspired about what's going on and to follow along and really share," Townsend says.

Curiosity also has its own Twitter handle - @MarsCuriosity - with 1.3 million followers. It has pushed the Curiosity Explorer badge, as well as images from Mars. It is posting similar content on Facebook, where it has 470,000 fans.

According to Townsend, NASA is striving for Curiosity to have a persona, which sets the tone on social channels.

"By having it talk in the first person, we are able to say things in a way that resonates with people and gets more attention than saying them from the third person," Townsend says.

Read more: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2234116/nasa-rover-explores-social-landscape