For whatever it’s worth Brightkite actually pioneered the location-based checked-in with social networking service a couple of years ago. Yes, long before Gowalla and Foursquare started to become popular  it  has been offering the same service. But for no apparent reason Brightkite became silent for quite some time now.

Enter Brightkite’s latest offering called Group Text. Aiming solve the tedious process of organizing gigs and events among your friends through sending of numerous text messages addressed to several people, Brightkite is offering a better, faster and more cost-effective solution through Group Text.

So, how does Group Text actually works?  You create a group, enter your contacts and then send out a text to the group. The fun begins when your friends start receiving your messages via text, push notifications, mobile web or from the web itself.  Then when anyone replies to your message, everyone in the conversation thread will receive the message as well. Basically, it’s like having email groups, only this time the main activity is done through text messaging.

Brightkite Group Text allows you to create groups with up to 25 members. Once you’ve created a group, you can easily ping them, introduce new members or start any conversation with all the members of the group. The service is free, so that answers your question on possible mobile data service cost.

Group Text also lets you send photos and locations to your group. You can also send messages directly from your desktop’s web browser.

And finally, Brighkite has submitted an updated version of its iPhone app to Apple. Once approved the new Brightkite iPhone app will have the group text messaging feature.

Related posts:

1. Zipit Wireless offers free and unlimited text messaging
2. Limbo and Brightkite merge to create one location-based social discovery company
3. Limbo launches free sports text alerts
4. Friendster to launch mobile text alerts in Asia
5. Shock! SpinVox speech-to-text service relied heavily on human translation