Gowalla, Foursquare, and now Facebook Places, are all social media platforms that are location based. With these applications you can "check in" to different locations and at the same time see where your friends are. This tool comes in handy when you need something to do on a Saturday night, or if you are driving around town during the week looking for something to get into. These applications are all in good fun, awarding mayors to people that check in the most often to a certain location, or getting merit badges if you party hop a lot one night. There is even an article on CNN.com that talks about how NASA is getting involved with the location based social media platforms. Above you see a picture of what I am talking about. NASA has hidden virtual gifts around the country to gain more recognition for the space program. Another article on CNN.com reveals that even the good people at CNN got into the game by offering up a healthy eater badge on Foursquare to people that ate well and shopped at local farmer's markets.
At the other end of the spectrum, people are telling all of cyberspace where they are. Is this really the safest thing we can do? I have read local reports of people going out of town for the weekend and checking into various places out of town, which then resulted in their houses getting robbed.
What are your thoughts about location based social media platforms? Do you think they are dangerous? Or do you think they are all in good fun? I feel like it is a double edged sword that could go either way. I personally will not be using this technology anytime soon.
This is the one trend in social media that I just really have no interest in. The people that use it rave about it but I just think it makes things a little too personal. I've heard reports about peoples' homes getting broken into because they said on Facebook that they were going to be out of town for the weekend...I think things like Foursquare could definitely start the same thing. I can understand why some businesses are looking into it but I just don't see a purpose for me to personally start using it. Maybe I'll rethink this when I moved to Chicago next summer?
ReplyDeleteI think this is kind of a cool thing, but on the other hand it could be dangerous. I have heard that there have been robberies because of this applications. People will see that you have just "checked in" some place that is not your home, so they know you aren't at home and that could lead some people to breaking in your house or who else knows what! Good blog.
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