Instant messaging (IM) users in a wireless network are allowed to automatically set their presence status based on their geographical location. A conventional Mobile IM (MIM) client, such as a Brew application, allows an IM user to set his presence status, e.g. “Online,” “Away,” etc. This status is transmitted to the IM server which then publishes this status to other IM users. As disclosed herein, location based presence populates the device position automatically into the presence status or other IM communications. For example, selection of a menu choice causes the disclosed MIM client to insert the street address of the current location into the presence status. The disclosed client obtains the location information by working with elements of a location based service (LBS) platform of a wireless mobile communication network, such as a location proxy server (LPS) and a position determining entity (PDE).