Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday, is a holiday that, for many, ends the Festival of Carnival and marks the arrival of the fasting days of Lent. In the United States, Mardi Gras is most famously celebrated in New Orleans, Louisiana and is full of elaborate costumes, parties, and parades. However, this celebration doesn’t happen in just New Orleans.

Many cities throughout the United States will hold their own parades and participate in many of the same traditions. For many people, Mardi Gras is the ultimate social setting. So just how is Mardi Gras becoming more and more social online?

Foursquare, the popular location-based game, has introduced their newest badge, the Mardi Gras badge. To earn this badge, players must check in to 3 venues tagged “parade” in New Orleans.
If you’re in New Orleans to live it up, but not sure where you’re headed, check out your application store on your smart phone and download the “Experience Mardi Gras” app. The application is free, and will provide live updates on parades and other events happening in New Orleans.

Of course Twitter will play a huge part in the online socialization of Mardi Gras. Expect to see location tweets, pictures, and links from individuals to document their experiences. If you’re celebrating in New Orleans, make sure to include #nola in your tweets. If you’re anywhere else, make sure to add #mardigras to them.

Flickr has a group dedicated to Mardi Gras 2011, encouraging members to upload pictures and videos to the group. Many venues hosting Mardi Gras celebrations will encourage visitors to upload their photos to Facebook pages and business websites. Picture sharing is a way to bring people who aren’t present to the front lines of an event.

Here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, we’re celebrating Mardi Gras with the Blue Dome District’s 2011 Mardi Gras Parade . The parade will start at 1st Street between Elgin and Detroit at 7:00 p.m. How will you use social media in your Mardi Gras experience?