Julia K.
Social Marketing Strategist | Organizational Change Management | Communications Consultant at Nine Dots Creative
Do you think geolocation apps like Foursquare and Gowalla can have dangerous implications for individual use?
Foursquare, Gowalla, MyTown and Loopt are geolocation apps that prove useful to businesses that get highly involved. However, I have concerns about the risks to individuals who use these applications everywhere they go -- specifically younger generations connecting with their friends. Do you think their apparent comfort at broadcasting their exact location at all times is harmless and fun, or can it have dangerous implications (as in stalking or worse)?
Clarification added April 3, 2010:
Here is a Web site dedicated to raising awareness of oversharing on social network sites in case anyone is interested further.
http://pleaserobme.com/
Good Answers (4)
Katya Y.
Versatile writer and expert editor looking for a new opportunity
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1)
It's unfair to criticize the location-based apps for the potential risks they pose. As others have pointed out, safety risks certainly exist, but they aren't strictly associated with using tools like Foursquare. People routinely broadcast their location on Facebook and Twitter, exposing themselves in the exact same way.
I think it would be useful to have some sort of a disclaimer or optional tutorial people could take to understand potential risks of sharing too much personal information. People learned about safely using online chat rooms, then they learned about the Nigerian scams, and now they are going to learn about using social media safely.
Katya
@kyefimova
There are risks in everything we do. I have a friend in security that advised against applications like Trip It that post your out of town visits on your Linked In profile. Trip It, Foursquare and Gowalla can create meetings with friends and relatives you have lost track of. Your travels become conversation starters.
Recently a friend noticed my increased travel and asked if my job had changed. The same information can be picked up in a conversation at Starbucks or the barbershop. And, it is more likely that the people listening are close enough to make robbing my house easy.
There are millions around the world using social media. Searching and filtering through 35,000 tweets per minute to find out who's home and who's not, takes serious work. No matter what security we put in place the dedicated professional criminals steal our credit card numbers, ID's flat screen TV's and laptops.
As with all things, we decide what risk we are willing to take versus the benefit we feel we are receiving. There are many factors.
Consider the information you are sharing and measure your risk. Letting people know where you are creates 2 risks.
Knowing where you aren't can make your home vulnerable to thieves. PleaseRobMe.com recently shut their site down because they received so many letters slamming them. They said their intent was awareness after receiving so much publicity. Not sure I believe that they weren't just pranksters themselves thinking they'd get attention from being "funny". However, if they can search social media to find out when your house is empty most computer users can as well.
Of course telegraphing where you are makes you a potential stalking target. I have no trouble going out for an early morning run alone when I travel. My female friends do not have that same freedom. Same thing with publishing where you are in social media, some people have greater risk than others.
I have found that I've met people, learned about events and struck up conversations because people know where I am. They have found out whether restaurants are good or bad from my open communication. I've found others who attend the same church I do. I'm not a celebrity so I don't think the stalking risk is too high for me.
I've seen news stories that showed that people were robbed and they implied it was because they Tweeted that they were on vacation. I didn't see any proof that media was the source of the information. It's possible. It's also possible they talked to their hairdresser, left an out of office on their email or even left newspapers piling up in the driveway. As long as you are aware of the risks, it's up to you to decide how much of a digital native you want to be
Links:
Julia,
This is a great question and something that I struggle with as I become more accustomed to "check in" at various locations from day-to-day. One thing to understand with Foursquare (I admit, I haven't used some of the others you mention) you have the opportunity to select who you connect with, as well as elect to offer your location via Twitter and Facebook. I -- like some others -- use it more for professional association than identification of personal whereabouts.
As for the issue of younger users and the potential to overexpose themselves via Foursquare, it's the responsibility of parents, teachers, mentors, and educators to help young users be responsible with the publication of their whereabouts online. This being said, we may take to having conversations about discussion of whereabouts on other social media networks in addition to Foursquare. Frequently we find, younger users are accustomed to tell of their exact location via Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc.
However, let us not forget that geo-tracking that we opt in to usage is only public in so far as we believe we "control" it. By this I mean, unless we get rid of our cell phones, GPS systems, stop using credit and debit cards, and deactivate Onstar, then maybe we don't have to worry about the "sinister predator" finding us without our knowledge. But then again, we would also have to get rid of the public record of our home address -- because Google is there to provide up-to-date pictures of your home from all sides...
Links:
I do think it can have dangerous implications and I don't use the geolocation apps for that reason. I am also careful about what I tweet. For example, I will often tweet about my business travels provided I know my husband is still in town. However, when we were all on a family vacation last week, I resisted the temptation to share with everyone how much fun we were having in Hilton Head as didn't want to broadcast our house was empty. We are home now so I'll share our experience.
I think, for a B2B persepctive, geolocation apps are a great tool for trade shows, conventions, etc. as a means for people to network and meet. It provides a social element to such activities. But, I don't see how they are a fit for B2B otherwise.
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Wallace J.
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Of course it can have dangerous implications, as can eating M&Ms. I have a friend who choked on a single M&M one evening when we were in Las Vegas at ShoWest last month and he required the Heimlich Maneuver to save his life. It's Like Final Destination: You Can't Beat Life. Just Surf It. Be Careful...
Jeremy W.
Résumés/Cover Letters | Online Profiles | Résumé Distribution | Interviews | Jeremy@BuckeyeResumes.com | 614-861-6606
I absolutely think this application is dangerous. Both for personal safety and the integrity of assets. There's nothing like telegraphing your whereabouts for those that would like to cause you harm.
Location-based marketing is an interesting concept, but, like anything else can get out of hand.
Something I've thought about: Should insurance companies cover homeowners that use geolocation apps?
Christine H.
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I think it depends on who is using them and how.
We can't worry about the lowest common denominator: users who might get robbed while they're not home, or those who, for some reason, have people who want to cause them harm. (How many of those folks you think are around AND using geolocation apps?) Like any social media, it has potential issues. Just last month, someone's home was robbed after they facebooked their status as "at a concert" see http://tiny.cc/pkpaz
Joseph S.
Freelance Digital Marketing Communication Consultant, Looking for a Full-Time Job
Julia,
I am an avid FourSquare user. There is always risk in using any of these communication tools. Since I broadcast where I am, most of the time, someone could use that as an opportune time to break into my house. I think the benefits of these tools far out-weigh the dangers.
I do believe, though, that there are certain things a person should be cautious about sharing online. I don't broadcast everything I do.
Thanks,
Joe Stabb
Links:
There is always the old, yet extremely wise, warning for any punter using social media, that being of course, "If you don't want people to know everything about you, then don't tell them!"
Links:
As a youngster, using Foursquare, I believe it contains certain risks if you do not pay attention to the way you use it.
I do never share my own address online. I never say where I am exactly (only street names, no numbers). And I pay attention whom I accept as friend on Foursquare.
But I also believe we do not have to be paranoia. If a robber calls you on your personal home telephone and nobody answers he/she will also know that there is nobody at home and your home could be robbed easily.
Erica F.
Social Media Optimizer, Publisher at ALC Publishing, President of Yuricon
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Yes, of course. There's already a site called "Pleaserobmenow.com"
And Google Buzz infamously connected a woman with an estranged and dangerous ex.
Most of the women I know hesitate to use geolocation on principle. It seems to me that it's one of these great ideas on paper and a really stupid idea in real life. Sure, when you're a CEO and are on the private jet to wherever, it's cute. When someone gets hurt, it won't be so cute anymore.
With all new devices for sharing information it comes down to educating users to properly understand the implications and using responsibly. I believe these social applications can be a great way to enhance and build relationships.
Millo A.
developer, co-founder at MyRealFont
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1), Viral Marketing (1)
hmm
It has dangerous implications.
Driving a car has dangerous implications too, but we all like to move faster, save time, and reach places we wouldn't, without it.
Sharing has brought progress to mankind, and I trust sharing geo-info will bring more.
As a social media user and parent of teens and young twenty somethings - I am very concerned about the risks of these geolocation applications. Where does there come a point to which too much information is overload? A good example is the recent spring breaks. We were away last week in Florida - but I was very cautious not to broadcast the fact that we were gone on Facebook or Twitter. A saw many photos and status updates from many in beautiful tropical locations telling all they were not home. I am a big believer in social media - but I don't feel comfortable with letting people know my every location - and even more concerned about young people. We all know of situations of stalking, obsessed boyfriends - and more. There are a lot of wackos out there.
Links:
Drew M.
Business Development Executive, Social Media and Visual Thinking/Design Consultant
There are as many implications for negative impact as positive. Take the law enforcement and intelligence organizations that can use historical pattern tracking to determine criminal intent.
The criminal organizations that are sophisticated enough to track you for optimizing target times are not interested in stealing your TV.
Geo locating sites and scripts just take your IP address and compare it to a database of cities to match. Does that scare you? It shouldn't!
I think geolocating is fun and also great for targeting advertising, http://www.FanSignGenerator.com has some fun geotarget API HTML codes to use.
Links:
- http://www.fansigngenerator.com/tools/geo-target.asp
- http://www.FanSignGenerator.com/
- http://www.GigahertzInc.com/
Clarification added April 8, 2010:
Basically what I am saying is that is your IP can be detected then it can read where you live (not exact address, just city/town). You can spoof your IP address or use anonymous proxies for chats and surfing.
